IT  WAS  LIKE  THE  BLAST  OF  A  HUNDRED  THUNDERBOLTS 
Tom  Sunft  and  His  Giant  Cannon  (.Pate  20$) 


TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS 
GIANT   CANNON 

OR 

The  Longest  Shots  on  Record 


BY 
VICTOR  APPLETON 

o»  "TOM  twirr  AND  mi  MOTOB  CYCLI,"  "TOM  «wirr  AXV 
B  GUPti,"    "TOM  iwirr  AND  mi  GREAT  IIA*CHUGHT," 

**T»B    MOVING    nCTUBB    BOYS,**    *<TMB    MOVING 
nCTUBK  BOTI  IN  THB  JVNGLB,"  BTC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP 
PUBLISHERS 

in  Ib*  Uoked  SUta  of  Aaeiie* 


BOOKS  BY  VICTOR  APPLETON 


THE  TOM  SWIFT  SERIES 


Cloth.    Illustrated.    Price,  per  volume, 
50  cents,  postpaid. 


TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  MOTOR  CYCLE 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  MOTOR  BOAT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIRSHIP 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  SUBMARINE  BOAT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  ELECTRIC  RUNABOUT 

TOM  SWIF1  AND  HIS  WIRELESS  MESSAGE 

TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  DIAMOND  MAKERS 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  CAVES  OF  ICE 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  SKY  RACER 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  ELECTRIC  RIFLE 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  CITY  OF  GOLD 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIR  GLIDER 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  CAPTIVJTY 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  WIZARD  CAMERA 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GREAT  SEARCHLIGHT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 


THB  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  SERIES 


irmo.    Cloth.    Illustrated.    Price,  per  volume, 
SO  cents,  postpaid. 


THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  IN  THE  WEST 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  ON  THE 

COAST 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  IN  THE 

JUNGLE 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  IN  EARTH- 

QUAKE  LAND 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP 
PUBLISHERS  NEW  YORK 

COPYRIGHT,   1913,   BY 
GROSSET   &   DUNLAP 


Tom  Swift  and  His  Giant  Cannon 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    OK  A  LIVE  WOE i 

II    "WE'LL  TAKE  A  CHANCE!" 14 

III  PLANNING  A  BIG  GUN 22 

IV  KOKU'S  BRAVE  ACT 29 

V    OFF  TO  SANDY  HOOK 40 

VI    TESTING  THE  WALLER  GUN 48 

VII    THE  IMPOSSIBLE  OCCURS 58 

VIII    A  BIG  PROBLEM 65 

IX    THE  NEW  POWDER 72 

X    SOMETHING  WRONG. 80 

XI    FAILURE  AND  SUCCESS 87 

XII    A  POWERFUL  BLAST 97 

XIII  CASTING  THE  CANNON 105 

XIV  A  NIGHT  INTRUDER. 115 

XV    READY  FOR  THE  TEST 121 

XVI      AWARDING Ul 

XVII  THE  BURSTING  DAM 139 

XVIII    THE  DOPED  POWDER ,.r  151 

XIX    BLOWING  DOWN  THE  BARRIER 158 

XX    THE  GOVERNMENT  ACCEPTS »<fc 

iii 


iv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXI    OFF  FOR  PANAMA 173 

XXII    AT  GATUN  LOCKS 183 

XXIII  NEWS  OF  THE  MINE 191 

XXIV  THE  LONGEST  SHOT 197 

XXV    THE  LONG-LOST  MINE 209 


TOM    SWIFT    AND    HIS 
GIANT    CANNON 


CHAPTER   I 

ON  A  LIVE  WIRE 

"Now,  see  here,  Mr.  Swift,  you  may  think  it 
all  a  sort  of  dream,  and  imagine  that  I  don't 
know  what  I'm  talking  about ;  but  I  do !  If  you'll 
consent  to  finance  this  expedition  to  the  extent  of, 
say,  ten  thousand  dollars,  I'll  practically  guaran- 
tee to  give  you  back  five  times  that  sum !" 

"I  don't  know,  Alec,  I  don't  know,"  slowly  re- 
sponded the  aged  inventor.  "I've  heard  those 
stories  before,  and  in  my  experience  nothing  ever 
came  of  them.  Buried  treasure,  and  lost  vessels 
filled  with  gold,  are  all  well  and  good,  but  hunting 
for  an  opal  mine  on  some  little-heard-of  island 
goes  them  one  better." 

"Then  you  don't  feel  like  backing  me  up  in 
this  matter,  Mr.  Swift?" 

i 


2  TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"No,  Alec,  I  can't  say  I  do.  Why,  just  stop 
and  think  for  a  minute.  You're  asking  me  to  put 
ten  thousand  dollars  into  a  company,  to  fit  out  an 
expedition  to  go  to  this  island — somewhere  down 
near  Panama,  you  say  it  is — and  try  to  locate  the 
lost  mine  from  which,  some  centuries  ago,  opals 
and  other  precious  stones  came.  It  doesn't  seem 
reasonable." 

"But  I'm  sure  I  can  find  the  mine,  Mr.  Swift !" 
persisted  Alec  Peterson,  who  was  almost  as 
elderly  a  man  as  the  one  he  addressed.  "I  have 
the  old  documents  that  tell  how  rich  the  mine 
once  was,  how  the  old  Mexican  ruTers  used  to 
get  their  opals  from  it,  and  how  all  trace  of  it  was 
lost  in  the  last  century.  I  have  all  the  landmarks 
down  pat,  and  I'm  sure  I  can  find  it.  Come  on 
now,  take  a  chance.  Put  in  this  ten  thousand 
dollars.  I  can  manage  the  rest.  You'll  get  back 
more  than  five  times  your  investment." 

"If  you  find  the  mine — yes." 

"I  tell  you  I  will  find  it!  Come  now,  Mr. 
Swift,"  and  the  visitor's  voice  was  very  pleading, 
"you  and  your  son  Tom  have  made  a  fortune  for 
yourselves  out  of  your  different  inventions.  Be 
generous,  and  lend  me  this  ten  thousand  dollars." 

Mr.  Swift  shook  his  head. 

"I've  heard  you  talk  the  same  way  before, 
Alec,"  he  replied.  "None  of  your  schemes  ever 


ON  A  LIVE  WIRE  3 

amounted  to  anything.  You've  been  a  fortune- 
hunter  all  your  life,  nearly;  and  what  have  you 
gotten  out  of  it  ?  Just  a  bare  living." 

"That's  right,  Mr.  Swift,  but  I've  had  bad  luck. 
I  did  find  the  lost  gold  mine  I  went  after  some 
years  ago,  you  remember." 

"Yes,  only  to  lose  it  because  the  missing  heirs 
turned  up,  and  took  it  away  from  you.  You 
could  have  made  more  at  straight  mining  in  the 
time  you  spent  on  that  scheme." 

"Yes,  I  suppose  I  could ;  but  this  is  going  to  be 
a  success — I  feel  it  in  my  bones." 

"That's  what  you  say,  every  time,  Alec.  No, 
I  don't  believe  I  want  to  go  into  this  thing." 

"Oh,  come — do!  For  the  sake  of  old  times. 
Don't  you  recall  how  you  and  I  used  to  pros- 
pect together  out  in  the  gold  country;  how  we 
shared  our  failures  and  successes?" 

"Yes,  I  remember  that,  Alec.  Mighty  few 
successes  we  had,  though,  in  those  days." 

"But  now  you've  struck  it  rich,  pardner,"  went 
on  the  pleader.  "Help  me  out  in  this  scheme 
—do!" 

"No,  Alec.  I'd  rather  give  you  three  or  four 
thousand  dollars  for  yourself,  if  you'd  settle  down 
to  some  steady  work,  instead  of  chasing  all  over 
the  country  after  visionary  fortunes.  You're 
getting  too  old  to  do  that." 


4  TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Well,  it's  a  fact  I'm  no  longer  young.  But 
I'm  afraid  I'm  too  old  to  settle  down.  You  can't 
teach  an  old  dog  new  tricks,  pardner.  This  is  my 
life,  and  I'll  have  to  live  it  until  I  pass  out.  Well, 
if  you  won't,  you  won't,  I  suppose.  By  the  way, 
where  is  Tom?  I'd  like  to  see  him  before  I  go 
back.  He's  a  mighty  fine  boy." 

"That's  what  he  is!"  broke  in  a  new  voice. 
"Bless  my  overshoes,  but  he  is  a  smart  lad!  A 
wonderful  lad,  that's  what !  Why,  bless  my  neck- 
tie, there  isn't  anything  he  can't  invent;  from  a 
button-hook  to  a  battleship!  Wonderful  boy — 
that's  what!" 

"I  guess  Tom's  ears  would  burn  if  he  could 
hear  your  praises,  Mr.  Damon,"  laughed  Mr. 
Swift.  "Don't  spoil  him." 

"Spoil  Tom  Swift?  You  couldn't  do  it  in  a 
hundred  years!"  cried  Mr.  Damon,  enthusiastic- 
ally. "Bless  my  topknot!  Not  in  a  thousand 
years — no,  sir!" 

"But  where  is  he?"  asked  Mr.  Peterson,  who 
was  evidently  unused  to  the  extravagant  manner 
of  Mr.  Damon. 

"There  he  goes  now!"  exclaimed  the  gentle- 
man who  frequently  blessed  himself,  some  article 
of  his  apparel,  or  some  other  object.  "There  he 
goes  now,  flying  over  the  house  in  that  Humming 
Bird  airship  of  his.  He  said  he  was  going  to  try 


ON  A  LIVE  WIRE  5 

out  a  new  magneto  he'd  invented,  and  it  seems 
to  be  working  all  right.  He  said  he  wasn't  going 
to  take  much  of  a  flight,  and  I  guess  he'll  soon 
be  back.  Look  at  him!  Isn't  he  a  great  one, 
though!" 

"He  certainly  is,"  agreed  Mr.  Peterson,  as  he 
and  Mr.  Swift  went  to  the  window,  from  which 
Mr.  Damon  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  youthful 
inventor  in  his  airship.  "A  great  lad.  I  wish 
he  could  come  on  this  mine-hunt  with  me,  though 
I'd  never  consent  to  go  in  an  airship.  They're  too 
risky  for  an  old  man  like  me." 

"They're  as  safe  as  a  church  when  Tom  Swift 
runs  them !"  declared  Mr.  Damon.  "I'm,  no  boy, 
but  I'd  go  anywhere  with  Tom." 

"I'm  afraid  you  wouldn't  get  Tom  to  go  with 
you,  Alec,"  went  on  Mr.  Swift,  as  he  resumed  his 
chair,  the  young  inventor  in  his  airship  having 
passed  out  of  sight.  "He's  busy  on  some  new 
invention  now,  I  believe.  I  think  I  heard  him  say 
something  about  a  new  rifle." 

"Cannon  it  was,  Mr.  Swift,"  said  Mr.  Damon. 
"Tom  has  an  idea  that  he  can  make  the  biggest 
cannon  in  the  world ;  but  it's  only  an  idea  yet." 

"Well,  then  I  guess  there's  no  hope  of  my  in- 
teresting him  in  my  opal  mine,"  said  the  fortune- 
hunter,  with  rather  a  disappointed  smile.  "Nor 
you  either,  Mr.  Swift." 


6  TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"No,  Alec,  I'm  afraid  not.  As  I  said,  I'd 
rather  give  you  outright  three  or  four  thousand 
dollars,  if  you  wanted  it,  provided  that  you  used 
it  for  your  own  personal  needs,  and  promised  not 
to  sink  it  in  some  visionary  search." 

Mr.  Peterson  shook  his  head. 

"I'm  not  actually  in  want,"  he  said,  "and  I 
couldn't  accept  a  gift  of  money,  Mr.  Swift  This 
is  a  straight  business  proposition." 

"Not  much  straight  business  in  hunting  for  a 
mine  that's  been  lost  for  over  a  century,"  replied 
the  aged  inventor,  with  a  glance  at  Mr.  Damon, 
who  was  still  at  the  window,  watching  for  a 
glimpse  of  Tom  on  his  return  trip  in  the  air 
craft. 

"If  Tom  would  go,  I'd  trail  along,"  said  the 
odd  man.  "We  haven't  done  anything  worth 
speaking  of  since  he  used  his  great  searchlight  to 
detect  the  smugglers.  But  I  don't  believe  he'll 
go.  That  mining  proposition  sounds  good." 

"It  is  good !"  cried  Mr.  Peterson,  with  fervor, 
hoping  he  had  found  a  new  "prospect"  in  Mr. 
Damon. 

"But  not  business-good,"  declared  Mr.  Swift, 
and  for  some  time  the  three  argued  the  matter, 
Mr.  Swift  continuing  to  shake  his  head. 

Suddenly  into  the  room  there  ran  an  aged  col- 
ored man,  much  excited. 


ON  A  "LIVE  WIRE  7 

"Fo'  de  land  sakes!"  he  cried.  "Somebody 
oughter  go  out  an*  help  Massa  Tom !" 

"Why,  what's  the  matter,  Eradicate?"  asked 
Mr.  Swift,  leaping  to  his  feet,  an  example  fol- 
lowed by  the  other  two  men.  "What  has  hap- 
pened to  my  son?" 

"I  dunno,  Massa  Swift,  but  I  looked  up  jest 
now,  an'  dere  he  be,  in  dat  air-contraption  ob 
his'n  he  calls  de  Httmmin'  Burd.  He's  ketched 
up  fast  on  de  balloon  shed  roof,  an'  dere  he's 
hangin'  wif  sparks  an'  flames  a-shootin'  outer  de 
airship  suffin'  scandalous!  It's  jest  spittin'  fire, 
dat's  what  it's  a-doin',  an*  ef  somebody  don't  do 
suffin'  fo'  Massa  Tom  mighty  quick,  dere  ain't 
gwin  t'  be  any  Massa  Tom;  now  dat's  what  I'se 
a-tellin'  you!" 

"Bless  my  shoe  buttons!"  gasped  Mr.  Damon. 
"Come  on  out,  everybody!  We've  got  to  help 
Tom!" 

"Yes!"  assented  Mr.  Swift.  "Call  someone 
on  the  telephone!  Get  a  doctor!  Maybe  he's 
shocked !  Where's  Koku,  the  giant  ?  Maybe  he 
can  help!" 

"Now  doan't  yo'  go  t'  gittin'  all  excited-laik," 
objected  Eradicate  Sampson,  the  aged  colored 
man.  "Remember  yo'  all  has  got  a  weak  heart, 
Massa  Swift!" 

"I  know  it;  but  I  must  save  my  son.    Hurry!" 


8  TOM  SWIFT  'AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

Mr.  Swift  ran  from  the  room,  followed  by  Mr. 
Damon  and  Mr.  Peterson,  while  Eradicate  trailed 
after  them  as  fast  as  his  tottering  limbs  would 
carry  him,  murmuring  to  himself. 

"There  he  is !"  cried  Mr.  Damon,  as  he  caught 
sight  of  the  young  inventor  in  his  airship,  in  a 
position  of  peril.  Truly  it  was  as  Eradicate  had 
said.  Caught  on  the  slope  of  the  roof  of  his  big 
balloon  shed,  Tom  Swift  was  in  great  danger. 

From  his  airship  there  shot  dazzling  sparks, 
and  streamers  of  green  and  violet  fire.  There 
was  a  snapping,  cracking  sound  that  could  be 
heard  above  the  whir  of  the  craft's  propellers,  for 
the  motor  was  still  running. 

"Oh,  Tom !  Tom !  What  is  it ?  What  has  hap- 
pened ?"  cried  his  father. 

"Keep  back!  Don't  come  too  close!"  yelled 
the  young  inventor,  as  he  clung  to  the  seat  of  the 
aeroplane,  that  was  tilted  at  a  dangerous  angle. 
"Keep  away !" 

"What's  the  matter?"  demanded  Mr.  Damon, 
"Bless  my  pocket  comb — what  is  it?" 

"A  live  wire!"  answered  Tom.  "I'm  caught 
in  a  live  wire.  The  trailer  attached  to  the  wire- 
less outfit  on  my  airship  is  crossed  with  the  wire 
from  the  power  plant.  There's  a  short  circuit 
somewhere.  Don't  come  too  close,  for  it  may 


ON  A  LIVE  WIRE  g 

turn  through  any  second  and  drop  down.  Then 
it  will  twist  about  like  a  snake !" 

"Land  ob  massy !"  cried  Eradicate. 

"What  can  we  do  to  help  you?"  called  Mr. 
Swift.  "Shall  I  run  and  shut  off  the  power?" 
for  in  the  shop  where  Tom  did  most  of  his  in- 
ventive work  there  was  a  powerful  dynamo,  and 
it  was  on  one  of  the  wires  extending  from  it, 
that  brought  current  into  the  house,  that  the  craft 
had  caught. 

"Yes,  shut  it  off  if  you  can!" /Tom  shouted 
back.  "But  be  careful.  Don't  get  shocked! 
Wow!  I  got  a  touch  of  it  myself  that  time!" 
and  he  could  be  seen  to  writhe  in  his  seat 

"Oh,  hurry!  hurry!  Find  Koku!"  cried  Mr. 
Swift  to  Mr.  Damon,  who  had  started  for  the 
power  house  on  the  run. 

The  sparks  and  lances  of  fire  seemed  to  increase 
around  the  young  inventor.  The  airship  could 
be  seen  to  slip  slowly  down  the  sloping  roof. 

"Land  ob  massy !  He  am  suah  gwine  t*  fall !" 
yelled  Eradicate. 

"Oh,  he'll  never  get  that  current  shut  off  in 
time!"  murmured  Mr.  Swift,  as  he  started  after 
Mr.  Damon. 

"Wait!  I  think  I  have  a  plan!"  called  Mr. 
Peterson.  "I  think  I  can  save  Tom !" 

He  did  not  waste  further  time  in  talk,  but, 


10         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

running  to  a  nearby  shed,  he  got  a  long  ladder 
that  he  saw  standing  under  it.  With  this  over  his 
shoulder  he  retraced  his  steps  to  the  balloon  han~ 
gar  and  placed  the  ladder  against  the  side.  Then 
he  started  to  climb  up. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  yelled  Tom, 
leaning  over  from  his  seat  to  watch  the  elderly 
fcrtune-hunter. 

"I'm  going  to  cut  that  wire !"  was  the  answer. 

"Don't!  If  you  touch  it  you'll  be  shocked  to 
death !  I  may  be  able  to  get  out  of  here.  So  far 
I've  only  had  light  shocks,  but  the  insulation  is 
burning  out  of  my  magneto,  and  that  will  soon 
stop.  When  it  does  I  can't  run  the  motor, 
and " 

"I'm  going  to  cut  that  wire!"  again  shouted 
Mr.  Peterson. 

"But  you  can't,  without  pliers  and  rubber 
gloves!"  yelled  Tom.  "Keep  away,  I  tell  you!" 

The  man  on  the  ladder  hesitated.  Evidently 
he  had  not  thought  of  the  necessity  of  protecting 
his  hands  by  rubber  covering,  in  order  that  the 
electricity  might  be  made  harmless.  He  backed 
down  to  the  ground. 

"I  saw  a  pair  of  old  gloves  in  the  shed!"  he 
cried.  "I'll  get  them — they  look  like  rubber." 

"They  are !"  cried  Tom,  remembering  now  that 
he  had  been  putting  up  a  new  wire  that  day,  and 


ON  A  LIVE  WIRE  II 

had  left  his  rubber  gloves  there.  "But  you 
haven't  any  pliers!"  the  lad  went  "How  can 
you  cut  wire  without  them?  There's  a  pair  in  the 
shop,  but " 

"Heah  dey  be !  Heah  dey  be !"  cried  Eradicate, 
as  he  produced  a  heavy  pair  from  his  pocket  "I 
— I  couldn't  find  de  can-opener  fo'  Mrs.  Baggert, 
an'  I  jest  got  yo'  pliers,  Massa  Tom.  Oh,  how 
glad  I  is  dat  I  did.  Here's  de  pincers,  Massa 
Peterson." 

He  handed  them  to  the  fortune-hunter,  who 
came  running  back  with  the  rubber  gloves.  Mr. 
Damon  was  no  more  than  half  way  to  the  power 
house,  which  was  quite  a  distance  from  the  Swift 
homestead.  Meanwhile  Tom's  airship  was  slip- 
ping more  and  more,  and  a  thick,  pungent  smoke 
now  surrounded  it,  coming  from  the  burning  in- 
sulation. The  sparks  and  electrical  flames  were 
worse  than  ever. 

"Just  a  moment  now,  and  I'll  have  you  safe!" 
cried  the  fortune-hunter,  as  he  again  mounted  the 
ladder.  Luckily  the  charged  wire  was  near 
enough  to  be  reached  by  going  nearly  to  the  top 
of  the  ladder. 

Holding  the  pincers  in  his  rubber-gloved  hands, 
the  old  man  quickly  snipped  the  wire.  There  was 
a  flash  of  sparks  as  the  copper  conductor  was 


12         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

severed,  and  then  the  shower  of  sparks  about 
Tom's  airship  ceased. 

In  another  second  he  had  turned  on  full  power, 
the  propellers  whizzed  with  the  quickness  of  light, 
and  he  rose  in  the  air,  off  the  shed  roof,  the  live 
wire  no  longer  entangling  him.  Then  he  made  a 
short  circuit  of  the  work-shop  yard,  and  came  to 
the  ground  safely  a  little  distance  from  the  bal- 
loon hangar. 

"Saved !  Tom  is  saved!"  cried  Mr.  Swift,  who 
had  seen  the  act  of  Mr.  Peterson  from  a  distance. 
"He  saved  my  boy's  life!" 

"Thanks,  Mr.  Peterson !"  exclaimed  the  young- 
inventor,  as  he  left  his  seat  and  walked  up  to  the 
fortune-hunter.  "You  certainly  did  me  a  good 
turn  then.  It  was  touch  and  go !  I  couldn't  have 
stayed  there  many  seconds  longer.  Next  time 
I'll  know  better  than  to  fly  with  a  wireless  trailer 
over  a  live  conductor,"  and  he  held  out  his  hand 
to  Mr.  Petersoa 

"I'm  glad  I  could  help  you,  Tom,"  spoke  the 
other,  warmly.  "I  was  afraid  that  if  you  had  to 
wait  until  they  shut  off  the  power  it  would  be  too 
late." 

"It  would — it  would — er— I  feel — I " 

Tom's  voice  trailed  off  into  a  whisper  and  he 
ewayed  on  his  feet. 

"Cotch  him!"  cried  Eradicate.     "Cotch  him! 


'ON  'A  "LIVE  WIRE  13 

Massa  Tom's  hurt!"  and  only  just  in  time  did 
Mr.  Peterson  clutch  the  young  inventor  in  his 
arms.  For  Tom,  white  of  face,  had  fallen  back 
in  a  dead  faint. 


CHAPTER   II 
"WE'LL  TAKE  A  CHANCE!" 

"CARRY  him  into  the  house!"  cried  Mr.  Swift, 
as  he  came  running  to  where  Mr.  Peterson  was 
loosening  Tom's  collar. 

"Git  a  doctor!"  murmured  Eradicate.  "Call 
someone  on  de  tellifoam!  Git  fo*  doctors!" 

"We  must  get  him  into  the  house  first,"  de- 
clared Mr.  Damon,  who,  seeing  that  Tom  was 
off  the  shed  roof,  had  stopped  mid-way  to  the 
powerhouse,  and  retraced  his  steps.  "Let's  carry 
him  into  the  house.  Bless  my  pocketbook !  but  he 
must  have  been  shocked  worse  than  he  thought." 

They  lifted  the  inert  form  of  our  hero  and 
walked  toward  the  mansion  with  him,  Mrs.  Bag- 
gert,  the  housekeeper,  standing  in  the  doorway 
In  dismay,  uncertain  what  to  do. 

And  while  Tom  is  being  cared  for  I  will  take 
just  a  moment  to  tell  my  new  readers  something 
more  about  him  and  his  inventions,  as  they  have 
been  related  in  the  previous  books  of  this  series. 

14 


'WE'LL  TAKE  A  CHANCE!"  15 

The  first  volume  was  called  "Tom  Swift  and 
His  Motor-Cycle,"  and  this  machine  was  the 
means  of  his  becoming  acquainted  with  Mr. 
.Wakefield  Damon,  the  odd  gentleman  who  so 
often  blessed  things.  On  his  motor-cycle  Tom 
had  many  adventures. 

The  lad  was  of  an  inventive  mind,  as  was  his 
father,  and  in  the  succeeding  books  of  the  series, 
which  you  will  find  named  in  detail  elsewhere,  I 
related  how  Tom  got  a  motorboat,  made  an  air- 
ship, and  later  a  submarine,  in  all  of  which  craft 
he  had  strenuous  times  and  adventures. 

His  electric  runabout  was  quite  the  fastest  car 
oa  the  road,  and  when  he  sent  his  wonderful  wire- 
less message  he  saved  himself  and  others  from 
Earthquake  Island.  He  solved  the  secret  of  the 
diamond  makers,  and,  though  he  lost  a  fine  bal- 
loon in  the  caves  of  ice,  he  soon  had  another  air 
craft — a  regular  sky-racer.  His  electric  rifle 
saved  a  party  from  the  red  pygmies  in  Elephant 
Land,  and  in  his  air  glider  he  found  the  platinum 
treasure.  With  his  wizard  camera,  Tom  took 
wonderful  moving  pictures,  and  in  the  volume 
immediately  preceding  this  present  one,  called 
"Tom  Swift  and  His  Great  Searchlight,"  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  telling  you  how  the  lad  captured 
the  smugglers  who  were  working  against  Uncle 
Sam  over  the  border. 


16         TOM  SWIFT  AND  H/5  "GIANT  CANNON 

Tom,  as  you  will  see,  had,  with  the  help  of  his 
father,  perfected  many  wonderful  inventions. 
The  lad  lived  with  his  aged  parent,  his  mother 
being  dead,  in  the  village  of  Shopton,  in  New 
York  State, 

While  the  house,  which  was  presided  over  by 
the  motherly  Mrs.  Baggert,  was  large,  it  was 
almost  lost  now  amid  the  many  buildings  sur- 
rounding it,  from  balloon  and  airship  hangars,  to 
shops  where  varied  work  was  carried  on.  For 
Tom  did  most  of  his  labor  himself,  of  course 
with  men  to  help  him  at  the  heavier  tasks.  Occa- 
sionally he  had  to  call  on  outside  shops. 

In  the  household,  beside  his  father,  himself 
and  Mrs.  Baggert,  was  Eradicate  Sampson,  an 
aged  colored  man-of-all-work,  who  said  he  was 
called  "Eradicate"  because  he  eradicated  dirt. 
There  was  also  Koku,  a  veritable  giant,  one  of 
two  brothers  whom  Tom  had  brought  with  him 
from  Giant  Land,  when  he  escaped  from  captivity 
there,  as  related  in  the  book  of  that  name. 

Mr.  Damon  was,  with  Ned  Newton,  Tom's 
chum,  the  warmest  friend  of  the  family,  and  was 
often  at  Tom's  home,  coming  from  the  neighbor- 
ing town  of  Waterford,  where  he  lived. 

Tom  had  been  back  some  time  now  from  work- 
ing for  the  government  in  detecting  the  smug- 
glers, but,  as  you  may  well  suppose,  he  had  not 


•WE'LL  TAKE  'A  CHANCE!"  17 

been  idle.  Inventing  a  number  of  small  things, 
including  useful  articles  for  the  house,  was  a  sort 
of  recreation  for  him,  but  his  mind  was  busy  or> 
one  great  scheme,  which  I  will  tell  you  about  in 
due  time. 

Among  other  things  he  had  just  perfected  a 
new  style  of  magneto  for  one  of  his  airships. 
The  magneto,  as  you  know,  is  a  sort  of  small 
dynamo,  that  supplies  the  necessary  spark  to  the 
cylinder,  to  explode  the  mixture  of  air  and  gaso- 
line vapor.  He  was  trying  out  this  magneto  in 
the  Humming  Bird  when  the  accident  I  have  re- 
lated in  the  first  chapter  occurred. 

"There!  He's  coming  to!"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Baggert,  as  she  leaned  over  Tom,  who  was 
stretched  out  on  the  sofa  in  the  library.  "Give 
him  another  smell  of  this  ammonia,"  she  went 
on,  handing  the  bottle  to  Mr.  Swift. 

"No— no,"  faintly  murmured  Tom,  opening 
his  eyes.  "I — I've  had  enough  of  that,  if  you 
please !  I'm  all  right." 

"Are  you  sure,  Tom?"  asked  his  father. 
"Aren't  you  hurt  anywhere?" 

"Not  a  bit,  Dad !  It  was  foolish  of  me  to  go 
off  that  way ;  but  I  couldn't  seem  to  help  it.  It  all 
got  black  in  front  of  me,  and — well,  I  just  keeled 
over." 

"I  should  say  you  did,"  spoke  Mr.  Peterson, 


18         TOM  SWIFT  'AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"An*  ef  he  hadn't  a-been  there  to  cotch  yo'  all,** 
put  in  Eradicate,  "yo'  all  suah  would  hab  hit  de 
ground  mighty  hard." 

"That's  two  services  he  did  for  me  to-day," 
said  Tom,  as  he  managed  to  sit  up.  "Cutting  that 
wire — well,  it  saved  my  life,  that's  certain." 

"I  believe  you,  Tom,"  said  Mr.  Swift,  sol- 
emnly, and  he  held  out  his  hand  to  his  old  mining 
partner. 

"Do  you  need  the  doctor?"  asked  Mr.  Damon, 
who  was  at  the  telephone.  "He  says  he'll  come 
right  over — I  can  get  him  in  Tom's  electric  run- 
about,  if  you  say  so.  He's  on  the  wire  now." 

"No,  I  don't  need  him,"  replied  the  young  in- 
ventor. "Thank  him  just  the  same.  It  was  only 
an  ordinary  faint,  caused  by  the  slight  electrical 
shocks,  and  by  getting  a  bit  nervous,  I  guess. 
I'm  all  right — see,"  and  he  proved  it  by  standing 
up. 

"He's  all  right — don't  come,  doctor,"  said  Mr. 
Damon  into  the  telephone.  "Bless  my  keyring !*' 
he  exclaimed,  "but  that  was  a  strenuous  time !" 

"I've  been  in  some  tight  places  before,"  went 
on  Tom,  as  he  sat  down  in  an  easy  chair,  "and 
I've  had  any  number  of  shocks  when  I've  been 
experimenting,  but  this  was  a  sort  of  double  com- 
bination, and  it  sure  had  me  guessing.  But  I'm 
feeling  better  every  minute." 


"WE'LL  TAKE  A  CHANCE!"  19 

"A  cup  of  hot  tea  will  do  you  good,"  said 
motherly  Mrs.  Baggert,  as  she  bustled  out  of  the 
room.  "I'll  make  it  for  you." 

"You  cut  that  wire  as  neatly  as  any  lineman 
could,"  went  on  Tom,  glancing  from  Mr.  Peter- 
son out  of  the  window  to  where  one  of  his  work- 
men was  repairing  the  break.  "When  I  flew 
over  it  in  my  airship  I  never  gave  a  thought  to 
the  trailer  from  my  wireless  outfit.  The  first  I 
knew  I  was  caught  back,  and  then  pulled  down 
to  the  balloon  shed  roof,  for  I  tilted  the  deflecting 
rudder  by  mistake, 

"But,  Mr.  Peterson,"  Tom  went  on,  "I  haven't 
seen  you  in  some  time.  Anything  new  on,  that 
brings  you  here?"  for  the  fortune-hunter  had 
called  at  the  Swift  house  after  Tom  had  gone  out 
to  the  shop  to  get  his  airship  ready  for  the  flight 
to  try  the  magneto. 

"Well,  Tom,  I  have  something  rather  new  on," 
replied  Mr.  Peterson.  "I  hoped  to  interest  your 
father  in  it,  but  he  doesn't  seem  to  care  to  take  a 
chance.  It's  a  lost  opal  mine  on  a  little-known 
island  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  not  far  from  the  city 
of  Colon.  I  say  not  far — by  that  I  mean  about 
twenty  miles.  But  your  father  doesn't  want  to 
invest,  say,  ten  thousand  dollars  in  it,  though  I  can 
almost  guarantee  that  he'll  get  five  times  that  sum 


20         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

back.  So,  as  long  as  he  doesn't  feel  that  he  can 
help  me  out,  I  guess  I'd  better  be  traveling  on." 

"Hold  on!  Wait  a  minute.  Don't  be  in  a 
hurry,"  said  Mr.  Swift 

Mr.  Peterson  was  an  old  friend,  and  when  he 
and  Mr.  Swift  were  young  men  they  had  pros- 
pected and  grub-staked  together.  But  Mr.  Swift 
soon  gave  that  up  to  devote  his  time  to  his  inven- 
tions, while  Mr.  Peterson  became  a  sort  of  rolling 
stone. 

He  was  a  good  man,  but  somewhat  visionary, 
and  a  bit  inclined  to  "take  chances" — such  as 
looking  for  lost  treasure — rather  than  to  devote 
himself  to  some  steady  employment.  The  result 
was  that  he  led  rather  a  precarious  life,  though 
never  being  actually  in  want. 

"No,  pardner,"  he  said  to  Mr.  Swift  "It's 
kind  of  you  to  ask  me  to  stay ;  but  this  mine  busi- 
ness has  got  a  grip  on  me.  I  want  to  try  it  out 
If  you  won't  finance  the  project  someone  else 
may.  I'll  say  good-bye,  and " 

"Now  just  a  minute,"  said  Mr.  Swift  "It's 
true,  Alec,  I  had  about  made  up  my  mind  not  to 
go  into  this  thing,  when  this  accident  happened 
to  Tom.  Now  you  practically  saved  his  life. 
You " 

"Oh,  pshaw!  I  only  acted  on  the  spur  of  the 


"WE'LL  TAKE  A  CHANCE!"  21 

moment.  Anyone  could  have  done  what  I  did," 
protested  the  fortune-hunter. 

"Oh,  but  you  did  it!"  insisted  Mr.  Swift,  "and 
you  did  it  in  the  nick  of  time.  Now  I  wouldn't 
for  a  moment  think  of  offering  you  a  reward  for 
saving  my  son's  life.  But  I  do  feel  mighty 
friendly  toward  you — not  that  I  didn't  before — 
but  I  do  want  to  help  you.  Alec,  I  will  go  into 
this  business  with  you.  We'll  take  a  chance! 
I'll  invest  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  I'm  not  so 
awful  worried  about  getting  it  back,  either — 
though  I  don't  believe  in  throwing  money  away." 

"You  won't  throw  it  away  in  this  case!"  de- 
clared Mr.  Peterson,  eagerly.  "I'm  sure  to  find 
that  mine ;  but  it  will  take  a  little  capital  to  work 
it.  That's  what  I  need— capital !" 

"Well,  I'll  supply  it  to  the  extent  of  ten  thou- 
sand dollars,"  said  Mr.  Swift.  "Tom,  what  do 
you  think  of  it?  Am  I  foolish  or  not?" 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,  Dad !"  cried  the  young  man, 
who  was  now  himself  again.  "I'm  glad  you  took 
that  chance,  for,  if  you  hadn't — well,  I  would 
have  supplied  the  money  myself — that's  all,"  and 
he  smiled  at  the  fortune-hunter. 


CHAPTER   III 

PLANNING  A  BIG  GUN 

"Bur,  Tom,  I  don't  see  how  in  the  world  yon 
can  ever  hope  to  make  a  bigger  gun  than  that." 

"I  think  it  can  be  done,  Ned,"  was  the  quiet 
answer  of  the  young  inventor.  He  looked  up 
from  some  drawings  on  the  table  in  the  office  of 
one  of  his  shops.  "Now  I'll  just  show  you *• 

"Hold  on,  Tom.  You  know  I  have  a  very  poor 
head  for  figures,  even  if  I  do  help  you  out  once 
in  a  while  on  some  of  your  work.  Skip  the  tech- 
nical details,  and  give  me  the  main  facts." 

The  two  young  men — Ned  Newton  being 
Tom's  special  chum — were  talking  together  over 
Tom's  latest  scheme. 

It  was  several  days  after  Tom's  accident  in  the 
airship,  when  he  had  been  saved  by  the  prompt 
action  of  Mr.  Peterson.  That  fortune-hunter, 
once  he  had  the  promise  of  Mr.  Swift  to  invest  in 
his  somewhat  visionary  plan  of  locating  a  lost 
opal  mine  near  the  Panama  Canal,  had  left  the 

22 


PLANNING  'A  BIG  GUN  23 

Swift  homestead  to  arrange  for  fitting  out  the 
expedition  of  discovery.  He  had  tried  to  prevail 
Dn  Tom  to  accompany  him,  and,  failing  in  that, 
tried  to  work  on  Mr.  Damon. 

"Bless  my  watch  chain!"  exclaimed  that  odd 
gentleman.  "I  would  like  to  go  with  you  first 
rate.  But  I'm  so  busy — so  very  busy — that  I 
can't  think  of  it.  I  have  simply  neglected  all  my 
affairs,  chasing  around  the  country  with  Tom 
Swift.  But  if  Tom  goes  I — ahem!  I  think  per- 
haps I  could  manage  it — ahem !" 

"I  thought  you  were  busy,"  laughed  Tom. 

"Oh,  well,  perhaps  I  could  get  a  few  weeks  off. 
Bat  I'm  not  going — no,  61ess  my  check  book,  I 
must  get  back  to  business !" 

But  as  Mr.  Damon  was  a  retired  gentleman  of 
wealth,  his  "business"  was  more  or  less  of  a  joke 
among  his  friends. 

So  then,  a  few  days  after  the  departure  of 
Mr.  Peterson,  Tom  and  Ned  sat  in  the  former's 
office,  discussing  the  young  inventor's  latest 
scheme. 

"How  big  is  the  biggest  gun  ever  made,  Tom  ?" 
asked  his  chum.  "I  mean  in  feet,  in  inches,  or  in 
muzzle  diameter,  however  they  are  measured. 

"Well,"  began  Tom,  "of  course  some  nation 
may,  in  secret,  be  making  a  bigger  gun  than  any  I 
have  ever  heard  of.  As  far  as  I  know,  however, 


24         TOM  SWIFT  'AND  JUS  GIANT  CANNON 

tKe  largest  one  ever  made  for  the  United  States 
was  a  sixteen-inch  rifled  cannon — that  is,  it  was 
sixteen  inches  across  at  the  muzzle,  and  I  forget 
just  how  long.  It  weighed  many  tons,  however, 
and  it  now  lies,  or  did  a  few  years  ago,  in  a  ditch 
at  the  Sandy  Hook  proving  grounds.  It  was  a 
failure." 

"And  yet  you  are  figuring  on  making  a  cannoi 
with  a  muzzle  thirty  inches  across — almost  a  yard 
— and  fifty  feet  long  and  to  weigh " 

"No  one  can  tell  exactly  how  much  it  will 
weigh,"  interrupted  Tom.  "And  I'm  not  alto« 
gether  certain  about  the  muzzle  measurement,  noi 
of  the  length.  It's  sort  of  in  the  air  at  present 
Only  I  don't  see  why  a  larger  gun  than  any  that 
has  yet  been  made,  can't  be  constructed." 

"If  anybody  can  invent  one,  you  can,  Tom 
Swift!"  exclaimed  Ned,  admiringly. 

"You  flatter  me!"  exclaimed  his  chum,  with  a 
mock  bow. 

"But  what  good  will  it  be?"  went  on  Ned. 
"Making  big  guns  doesn't  help  any  in  war,  that  I 
can  see." 

"Ned!"  exclaimed  Tom,  "you  don't  look  far 
enough  ahead.  Now  here's  my  scheme  in  a  nut- 
shell. You  know  what  Uncle  Sam  is  doing  down 
in  his  big  ditch ;  don't  you  ?" 

"You  mean  digging  the  Panama  Canal?" 


PLANNING  A  BIG  GUN  25 

Yes,  the  greatest  engineering  feat  of  centu- 
ries. It  is  going  to  make  a  big  change  in  the 
whole  world,  and  the  United  States  is  going  to 
become — if  she  is  not  already — a  world-power. 
Now  that  canal  has  to  be  protected — I  mean 
against  the  possibility  of  war.  For,  though  it 
tnay  never  come,  and  the  chances  are  it  never  will, 
still  it  may. 

"Uncle  Sam  has  to  be  ready  for  it.  There 
never  was  a  more  true  saying  than  'in  time  of 
peace  prepare  for  war.'  Preparing  for  war  is,  in 
my  opinion,  the  best  way  not  to  have  one. 

"Once  the  Panama  Canal  is  in  operation,  and 
the  world-changes  incidental  to  it  have  been 
made,  if  it  should  pass  into  the  hands  of  some  for- 
eign country — as  it  very  possibly  might  do — the 
United  States  would  not  only  be  the  laughing- 
stock of  the  world,  but  she  would  lose  the  high 
place  she  holds. 

"Now,  then,  to  protect  the  canal,  several  things 
are  necessary.  Among  them  are  big  guns — can- 
non that  can  shoot  a  long  distance — for  if  a  for- 
eign nation  should  send  some  of  their  new  dread- 
naughts  over  here — vessels  with  guns  that  can 
shoot  many  miles — where  would  the  canal  be  once 
a  bombardment  was  opened  ?  It  would  be  ruined 
in  a  day — the  immense  lock-gates  would  be  de- 
stroyed. And,  not  only  from  the  guns  aboard 


26         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

ships  would  there  be  danger,  but  from  siege  can* 
non  planted  in  Costa  Rica,  or  some  South  Ameri- 
can country  below  the  canal  zone. 

"Now,  to  protect  the  canal  against  such  an  at- 
tack we  need  guns  that  can  shoot  farther,, 
straighter  and  more  powerfully  than  any  at  pres- 
ent in  use,  and  we've  got  to  have  the  most  pow* 
erful  explosive.  In  other  words,  we've  got  to 
beat  the  biggest  guns  that  are  now  in  existence. 
And  I'm  going  to  do  it,  Ned !" 

"You  are?" 

"Yes,  I'm  going  to  invent  a  cannon  that  win 
make  the  longest  shots  on  record  I'm  going  to 
make  a  world-beater  gun;  or,  rather,  I'm  going 
to  invent  it,  and  have  it  made,  for  I  gues*  it  would 
tax  this  place  to  the  limit 

"I've  been  thinking  of  this  for  some  time,  Ned. 
I've  been  puttering  around  inventing  new  mag- 
netos, potato-parers  and  the  like,  but  this  is  my 
latest  hobby.  The  Panama  Canal  is  a  big  thing 
— one  of  the  biggest  things  in  the  world.  We 
need  the  biggest  guns  in  the  world  to  protect  it 

"And,  listen :  Uncle  Sam  thinks  the  same  way. 
I  understand  that  the  best  men  in  the  service — at 
West  Point,  Annapolis  and  Sandy  Hook,  as  well 
as  elsewhere — are  working  in  the  interest  of  the 
United  States  to  perfect  a  bigger  cannon  than  any 
ever  before  made.  In  fact,  one  has  just  been  com- 


PLANNING  A  BIG  GUN  27 

pleted,  and  is  going  to  be  tried  at  the  Sandy  Hook 
proving  grounds  soon.  I'm  going  to  see  the  test 
if  I  can. 

"And  here's  another  thing.  Foreign  nations 
are  trying  to  steal  Uncle  Sam's  secrets.  If  this 
country  gets  a  big  cannon,  some  other  nation  will 
want  a  bigger  one.  It's  a  constant  warfare.  I'm 
going  to  devote  my  talents — such  as  they  are — to 
Uncle  Sam.  I'm  going  to  make  the  biggest  can- 
non in  the  world — the  one  that  will  shoot  the 
farthest  and  knock  into  smithereens  all  the  other 
big  guns.  That's  the  only  way  to  protect  the 
canal.  Do  you  understand,  Ned?" 

"Somewhat,  Tom.  Since  I  gave  up  my  place 
in  the  bank,  and  became  a  sort  of  handy-lad  for 
you,  I  know  more  about  your  work.  But  isn't 
it  going  to  be  dangerous  to  make  a  cannon  like 
that?" 

"Well,  in  a  way,  yes,  Ned.  But  we've  got  to 
take  chances,  just  as  father  did  when  he  invested 
ten  thousand  dollars  in  that  opal  mine.  He'll 
never  see  his  money  again." 

"Don't  you  think  so?" 

"No,  Ned." 

"And  when  do  you  expect  to  start  on  your  gun, 
Tom?" 

"Right  away.  I'm  making  some  plans  now. 
ifm  going  down  to  Sandy  Hook  and  witness  the 


28         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

test  of  this  new  big  cannon.    You  can  come  along, 
if  you  like." 

"Well,  I  sure  will  like.    When  is  it?" 

"Oh,  in  about  a  week.    I'll  have  to  look " 

"  'Scuse  me,  Massa  Tom,"  broke  in  Eradicate, 
as  he  put  his  head  through  the  half-opened  office 
door.  "  'Scuse  me,  but  dere's  a  express  gen'men 
outside,  wif  his  auto  truck,  an'  he's  got  some 
packages  fo'  yo*  all,  marked  'dangerous — explo- 
sive— an'  keep  away  fom  de  fire/  He  want  t1 
know  what  he  all  gwine  t'  do  wif  'em,  Massa 
Tom?" 

"Do  with  'em  ?  Oh,  I  guess  it's  that  new  giant 
powder  I  sent  for.  Why,  Eradicate,  have  him 
bring  'em  right  in  here," 

"Yais,  sah,  Massa  Tom.  Dat's  all  right;  but 
he  jest  can't  bring  'em  in,"  and  Eradicate  looked 
behind  him  somewhat  apprehensively. 

"Can't  bring  'em  in?  Why  not.  I'd  like  to 
know  ?"  exclaimed  Tom.  "He's  paid  for  it." 

'  'Scuse  me,  Massa  Tom,"  said  the  colored 
man,  "but  dat  express  gen'men  can't  bring  dem 
explosive  powder  boxes  in  heah,  'case  as  how  his 
autermobile  hab  done  ketched  fire  an'  he  cain't 
get  near  it  nohow.  Dat's  why,  Massa  Tom !" 

"Caesar's  ghost!"  yelled  the  young  inventor. 
"The  auto  on  fire,  and  that  powder  in  it !  Come 
on  Ned !"  and  he  made  a  rush  for  the  door. 


CHAPTER   IV 

KOKU'S  BRAVE  ACT 

*TOM!  Tom!"  cried  Ned,  as  he  watched  the 
disappearing  figure  of  his  chum.  "Come  back 
here!  If  there's  going  to  be  an  explosion  we 
ought  to  run  out  of  the  back  door !" 

"I'm  not  running  away!"  flashed  back  Tom. 
"I'm  going  to  get  that  powder  out  of  the  auto 
before  it  goes  up!  If  it  does  we'll  be  blown  to 
kingdom  come,  back  door  or  front  door!  Come 
on!" 

"Bacon  and  eggs !"  yelled  Ned.  "He's  running 
an  awful  risk!  But  I  can't  let  him  go  alone!  I 
guess  we're  in  for  it!" 

Then  he,  too,  rushed  from  the  office  toward  the 
front  of  the  shop,  before  which,  in  a  sort  of  pri- 
vate road,  stood  the  blazing  auto.  And  Ned,  who 
had  now  lost  sight  of  Tom,  because  of  our  hero 
having  turned  a  corner  in  the  corridor,  heard  ex- 
cited shouts  coming  from  the  seat  of  trouble. 

"If  that's  some  new  kind  of  powder  Tom's 
29 


30         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

sent  for,  to  test  for  his  new  big  gun,  and  it  goes 
up,"  Ned  said  to  himself,  as  he  rushed  on,  "this 
place  will  be  blown  to  smithereens.  All  Tom's 
valuable  machinery  and  patents  will  be  ruined !" 

Ned  had  now  reached  the  front  door  of  the 
shop.  He  had  a  glimpse  of  the  burning  auto — 
a  small  express  truck,  well  loaded  with  various 
packages.  And,  through  the  smoke,  which  from 
the  odor  must  have  been  caused  by  burning  gaso- 
line, Ned  could  see  several  boxes  marked  in  red 
letters: 


DANGEROUS  EXPLOSIVE 

KEEP  AWAY  FROM  FIRE 


"Keep  away  from  fire!"  murmured  the  pant- 
ing lad.  "If  they  can  get  any  nearer  fire  I  don't 
see  how." 

"Oh,  mah  golly!"  gasped  Eradicate,  who  had 
lumbered  on  behind  Ned.  "Oh,  mah  golly !  Oh, 
good  land  ob  mass)  !  Look  at  Massa  Tom !" 

"I've  got  to  help  him!"  cried  Ned,  for  he  saw 
that  his  chum  had  rushed  to  the  rear  of  the  auto, 
and  was  endeavoring  to  drag  one  of  the  powder 
boxes  across  the  lowered  tail-board.  Tom  was 


KOKU'S  BRAVE  'ACT  31 

straining  and  tugging  at  it,  but  did  not  seem  able 
to  move  the  case.  It  was  heavy,  as  Ned  learned 
later,  and  was  also  held  down  by  the  weight  of 
other  express  packages  on  top  of  it. 

''Oh,  mah  golly!"  cried  Eradicate.  "Git  some 
watah,  somebody,  an'  put  out  dat  fire!" 

"No — no  water !"  yelled  Tom,  who  heard  him. 
"Water  will  only  make  it  worse — it'll  scatter  the 
blazing  gasoline.  The  feed  pipe  from  the  tank 
must  have  burst.  Throw  on  sand — sand  is  the 
only  thing  to  use!" 

"I'll  git  a  shubble!"  cried  Eradicate.  "I'll  git 
a  sand-shubble !"  and  he  tottered  off. 

"Wait,  Tom,  I'll  give  you  a  hand !"  cried  Ned, 
as  he  saw  his  chum  step  away  from  the  end  of  the 
auto  for  a  moment,  as  a  burst  of  flame,  and  chok- 
ing smoke,  driven  by  the  wind,  was  blown  almost 
in  his  face.  "I'll  help  you!" 

"We've  got  to  be  lively,  then,  Ned!"  gasped 
Tom.  "This  is  getting  hotter  every  minute! 
Where's  that  Koku  ?  He  could  yank  these  boxes 
out  in  a  jiffy!" 

And  indeed  a  giant's  strength  was  needed  at 
that  moment. 

Ned  glanced  around  to  see  if  he  could  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  big  man  whom  Tom  had  brought 
from  Giant  Land,  but  Koku  was  not  in  sight. 

"Let's  have  another  try  now,  Ned!"  suggested 


32         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON. 

Tom,  when  a  shift  in  the  wind  left  the  rear  of  the 
auto  comparatively  free  from  smoke  and  flame, 

"You  fellows  had  better  skip!"  cried  the  ex- 
pressman, who  had  been  throwing  light  packages 
off  his  vehicle  from  in  front,  where,  as  yet,  there 
was  no  fire.  "That  powder'll  go  up  in  another 
minute.  Some  of  the  boxes  are  beginning  to 
catch  now!"  he  yelled.  "Look  out!" 

"That's  right!"  shouted  Tom,  as  he  saw  that 
the  edge  of  one  of  the  wooden  cases  containing 
the  powder  was  blazing  slightly.  "Lively,  Ned!" 

Ned  held  back  only  for  a  second.  Then,  realiz- 
ing that  the  time  to  act  was  now  or  never,  and 
that  even  if  he  ran  he  could  hardly  save  himself, 
he  advanced  to  Tom's  side.  The  smoke  was 
choking  and  stifling  them,  and  the  flames,  coming 
from  beneath  the  auto  truck,  made  them  gasp  for 
breath. 

Together  Tom  and  Ned  tugged  at  the  nearest 
case  of  powder — the  one  that  was  ablaze. 

"We — we  can't  budge  it !"  panted  Tom. 

"It — it's  caught  somewhere,"  added  Ned.  "Oh, 
if  Koku  were  only  here !" 

There  was  a  sound  behind  the  lads.  A  voice 
exclaimed : 

"Master  want  shovel,  so  Eradicate  say — here 
it  is!" 

They  turned  and  saw  a  big,  powerful  man,  with 


KOKU'S  BRAVE  'ACT  33 

a  simple,  child-like  face,  standing  calmly,  looking 
at  the  burning  auto. 

"Koku!"  cried  Tom.  "Quick!  Never  mind 
the  shovel !  Get  those  powder  boxes  out  of  that 
cart  before  they  go  up !  Yank  'em  out !  They're 
too  much  for  Ned  and  me!  Quick!" 

"Oh,  of  a  courseness  I  will  so  do !"  said  Koku, 
to  whom,  even  yet,  the  English  language  was 
somewhat  of  a  mystery.  He  dropped  the  shovel, 
and,  heedless  of  the  thick  smoke  from  the  burning 
gasoline,  reached  over  and  took  hold  of  the  near- 
est box.  It  seemed  as  though  he  pulled  it  from 
the  auto  truck  as  easily  as  Tom  might  have  lifted 
a  cork. 

Then,  carrying  the  box,  which  was  now  burn- 
ing quite  fiercely  on  one  corner,  over  toward  Tom 
and  Ned,  who  had  moved  back,  the  giant  asked : 

"What  you  want  of  him,  Master?" 

"Put  it  down,  Koku,  and  get  out  all  the  others ! 
Lively,  now,  Koku!" 

"I  do,"  was  the  simple  answer.  The  giant  put 
the  box  on  the  grass  and  ran  back  toward  the 
auto. 

"Quick,  Ned!"  shouted  Tom.  "Throw  some 
sand  on  this  burning  box !  That  will  put  out  the 
fire!" 

A  few  handfuls  of  earth  served  to  extinguisfi 


34         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

the  little  blaze,  and  by  this  time  Koku  had  come 
back  with  another  box  of  powder. 

"Get  'em  all,  Koku,  get  'em  all !  Then  we  can 
put  out  the  fire  on  the  auto." 

For  the  giant  it  was  but  child's  play  to  carry  the 
heavy  boxes  of  powder,  and  soon  he  had  them  all 
removed  from  the  truck.  Then,  with  the  danger 
thus  narrowly  averted,  they  all,  including  the  ex- 
pressman, turned  in  and  began  throwing  sand  on 
the  fire,  which  now  had  a  good  hold  on  the  body 
of  the  auto.  The  shovel,  which  Eradicate  had 
sent  by  Koku,  who  could  use  more  speed  than 
could  the  aged  colored  man,  came  in  handy. 

Soon  the  fire  was  out,  though  not  before  the 
truck  had  been  badly  damaged,  and  some  of  its 
load  destroyed.  But,  beyond  a  charring  of  some 
of  the  powder  boxes,  the  explosive  was  intact. 

"Whew!  That  was  a  lucky  escape,"  mur- 
mured Tom,  as  he  sat  down  on  one  of  the  boxes, 
and  wiped  the  smoke  and  sweat  from  his  face. 
"A  little  later  and  there'd  only  been  a  hole  in  the 
ground  to  tell  what  happened.  Hot  work;  eh, 
Ned?" 

"I  guess  yes,  Tom." 

"I  thought  of  the  powder  as  soon  as  I  saw 
that  the  truck  was  on  fire,"  explained  the  ex- 
pressman; "but  I  didn't  know  what  to  do.  I  was 
kinder  flustered,  I  guess.  This  is  the  second  time 


KOKU'S  BRAVE  ACT  35 

this  old  truck  has  caught  fire  from  a  leaky  gaso- 
line pipe.  I  guess  that  will  be  the  last — it  will 
for  me,  anyhow.  I'll  resign  if  they  don't  give  me 
another  machine.  Will  you  sign  for  your  stuff  ?" 
he  asked  Tom,  holding  out  the  receipt  book, 
which  had  escaped  the  flames. 

"Yes,  and  I'm  mighty  glad  I'm  here  to  sign  for 
it,"  replied  the  young  inventor.  "Now,  Koku, 
I  guess  you  can  take  that  stuff  up  to  the  shop; 
but  be  careful  where  you  put  it."  * 

"I  do,  Master,"  replied  the  giant 

"What  sort  of  powder  is  that,  Tom?"  asked 
Ned  a  little  later,  when  they  were  again  back  in 
the  office,  the  excitement  having  calmed  down. 
The  expressman  had  gone  back  to  town  afoot,  to 
arrange  about  getting  another  vehicle  for  what 
remained  of  his  load.  "Is  it  the  kind  they  use  in 
big  guns?" 

"One  of  the  kinds,"  replied  Tom.  "I  sent  for 
several  samples,  and  this  is  one.  I'm  going  to 
conduct  some  tests  to  see  what  kind  I'll  need  for 
my  own  big  gun.  But  I  expect  I'll  have  to  invent 
an  explosive  as  well  as  a  cannon,  for  I  want  the 
most  powerful  I  can  get.  Want  to  look  at  some 
of  this  powder?" 

"Yes,  if  you  think  it's  safe." 

"Oh,  it's  safe  enough  if  you  treat  it  right.  I'll 
show  you,"  and  working  carefully  Tom  soon  had 


36         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

one  of  the  boxes  open.  Reaching  into  the  depths 
he  held  up  a  handful  of  something  that  looked 
like  sticks  of  macaroni.  "There  it  is,"  he  said. 

"That  powder?"  cried  Ned.  "That's  a  queer 
kind.  I've  seen  the  kind  they  use  in  some  guns 
on  the  battleships.  That  powder  was  in  hex- 
agonal form,  about  two  inches  across,  and  had  a 
hole  in  the  centre.  It  was  colored  brown." 

"Well,  powder  is  made  in  many  forms,"  ex- 
plained Tom.  "A  person  who  has  only  seen  black 
gunpowder,  with  its  little  grains,  would  not  be- 
lieve that  this  was  one  grain  of  the  new  powder." 

"That  macaroni  stick  a  grain  of  powder?" 
cried  Ned. 

"Yes,  we'll  call  it  a  grain,"  went  on  the  young 
inventor,  "just  as  the  brown,  hexagonal  cube  you 
saw  was  a  grain.  You  see,  Ned,  the  idea  is  to 
explode  all  the  powder  at  once — to  get  instan- 
taneous action.  It  must  all  burn  up  at  once  as 
soon  as  it  is  detonated,  or  set  off. 

"To  do  that  you  have  to  have  every  grain  acted 
on  at  the  same  moment,  and  that  could  not  be 
done  if  the  powder  was  in  one  solid  chunk,  or 
closely  packed.  For  that  reason  they  make  it  in 
different  shapes,  so  it  will  lie  loose  in  the  firing 
chamber,  just  as  a  lot  of  jack-straws  are  piled 
up.  In  fact,  some  of  the  new  powder  looks  like 
jack-straws.  Some,  as  this,  for  instance,  looks 


KOKU'S  BRAVE  ACT  37 

like  macaroni.  Other  is  in  cubes,  and  some  in 
long  strings." 

As  he  spoke  Tom  struck  a  match  and  held  the 
flames  near  the  end  of  one  of  the  "macaroni" 
sticks. 

"Caesar's  grandmother!"  yelled  Ned.  "Are 
you  crazy,  Tom?"  and  he  started  to  leap  for  a 
window. 

"Don't  get  excited,"  spoke  Tom,  quietly. 
"There's  no  danger,"  and  he  actually  set  fire  to 
the  stick  of  queer  powder,  which  burned  like  some 
wax  taper. 

"But— but— "  stammered  Ned. 

"It  is  only  when  powder  is  confined'  that  it 
explodes,"  Tom  explained.  "If  it  can  burn  in 
the  open  it's  as  harmless  as  water,  provided  you 
don't  burn  too  much  at  once.  But  put  it  in  some- 
thing where  the  resulting  gases  accumulate  and 
can't  escape,  and  then — why,  you  have  an  explo- 
sion— that's  all." 

"Yes — that's  all,"  remarked  Ned,  grimly,  as 
he  nervously  watched  the  burning  stick  of  pow- 
der. Tom  let  it  flame  for  a  few  seconds,  and 
then  calmly  blew  it  out. 

"You  know  what  a  little  puff  black  gunpowder 
gives,  if  you  burn  some  openly  on  the  ground," 
went  on  Tom;  "don't  you,  Ned?" 

"Sure,  I've  often  done  that" 


38         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"But  put  that  same  powder  in  a  tight  box,  and 
set  fire  to  it,  and  you  have  a  bang  instead  of  a 
puff.  It's  the  same  way  with  this  powder,  only  it 
doesn't  even  puff,  for  it  burns  more  slowly. 

"An  explosion,  you  see,  is  the  sudden  libera- 
tion at  one  time  of  the  gases  which  result  when 
the  powder  is  burned.  If  the  gases  are  given  off 
gradually,  and  in  the  open,  no  harm  is  done. 
But  put  a  stick  like  this  in,  say,  a  steel  box,  aft 
closed  up,  save  a  hole  for  the  fuse,  and  what  do 
you  have?  An  explosion.  That's  the  principle  ot 
all  guns  and  cannon. 

"But  say,  Ned,  I'm  getting  to  be  a  regular  lec« 
turer.  I  didn't  know  I  was  running  on  so.  Why 
didn't  you  stop  me?" 

"Because  I  was  interested.  Go  on,  tell  me  some 
more." 

"Not  now.  I  want  to  get  this  powder  in  a  safe 
place.  I'm  a  little  nervous  about  it  after  that  fire. 
You  see  if  it  had  caught,  when  tightly  packed 
in  the  boxes,  there  would  have  been  a  terrific 
explosion,  though  it  does  burn  so  harmlessly  in 
the  open  air.  Now  let  me  see " 

Tom  was  interrupted  by  the  postman's  whistle, 
and  a  little  later  Eradicate  came  in  with  the  mail 
that  had  been  left  in  the  box  at  the  shop  door. 
Tom  rapidly  looked  over  the  letters. 

"Here's  the  note  I  want,  I  think,"  he  said,  se- 


KOKU'S  BRAVE  ACT  39 

lecting  one.  "Yes,  this  is  it  'Permission  is 
hereby  granted/  he  read,  'to  Thomas  Swift  to 
visit/  and  so  on,  and  so  on.  This  is  the  stuff, 
Ned!"  he  cried. 

"What  is  it?" 

"A  permit  to  visit  the  government  proving 
grounds  at  Sandy  Hook,  Ned,  and  see  'em  test 
that  new  big  gun  I  was  telling  you  about.  Hur- 
ray! We'll  go  down  there,  and  I'll  see  how  my 
ideas  fit  in  with  those  of  the  government's  ex- 
perts." 

"Did  you  say  'we'  would  go  down,  Tom?" 

"I  sure  did.    You'll  go  with  me;  won't  you?" 

"Well,  I  hadn't  thought  very  much  about  it, 
but  I  guess  I  will.  When  is  it?" 

"A  week  from  to-day,  and  I'm  going  to  need  all 
that  time  to  get  ready.  Now  let's  get  busy,  and 
we'll  arrange  to  go  to  Sandy  Hook.  I've  had 
trouble  enough  to  get  this  permit — I  guess  I'll 
put  it  where  it  won't  get  lost,"  and  he  locked  it  in 
t  secret  drawer  of  his  desk. 

Then  the  lads  stored  the  powder  in  a  safe  place, 
*nd  soon  were  busy  about  several  matters  in  the 
ihop. 


CHAPTER   V 

OFF  TO  SANDY  HOOK 

the  idea  of  this  government  test  of 
the  big  gun,  Tom?"  asked  Ned.  "I  got  so  ex- 
cited about  that  near-explosion  the  other  day, 
that  I  didn't  think  to  ask  you  all  the  particulars." 

"Why,  the  idea  is  to  see  if  the  gun  will  work, 
and  do  all  that  the  inventor  claims  for  it,"  was  the 
answer.  "They  always  put  a  new  gun  through 
more  severe  tests  than  anything  it  will  be  called 
on  to  stand  in  actual  warfare.  They  want  to  see 
just  how  much  margin  of  safety  there  is." 

"Oh,  I  see.  And  is  this  one  of  the  guns  that 
are  to  be  used  in  fortifying  the  Panama  Canal?" 

"Well,  Ned,  I  don't  know,  exactly.  You  see, 
the  government  isn't  telling  all  its  secrets.  I 
assume  that  it  is,  and  that's  why  I'm  anxious  to 
see  what  sort  of  a  gun  it  is. 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,  I'm  going  into  this  thing 
on  a  sort  of  chance,  just  as  dad  did  when  he  in- 
vested in  Mr.  Peterson's  opal  mine." 

40 


OFF  TO  SANDY  HOOK  41 

"Do  you  think  anything  will  come  of  that, 
Tom?" 

"I  don't  know.  If  we  get  down  to  Panama, 
after  I  have  made  my  big  gun,  we  may  take  a 
run  over,  and  see  how  he  is  making  out.  But,  as 
I  said,  I'm  going  into  this  big  cannon  business  on 
a  sort  of  gamble.  I  have  heard,  indirectly,  that 
Uncle  Sam  intends  to  use  a  new  type  of  gun  in 
fortifying  the  Panama  Canal.  It's  about  forty- 
nine  miles  long,  you  know,  and  it  will  take  many 
guns  to  cover  the  whole  route,  as  well  as  to  pro- 
tect the  two  entrances." 

"Not  so  very  many  if  you  make  a  gun  that 
will  shoot  thirty  miles,"  remarked  Ned,  with  a 
smile. 

"I'm  not  so  sure  I  can  do  it,"  went  on  Tom. 
"But,  even  at  that,  quite  a  number  of  guns  will 
be  needed.  For  if  any  foreign  nation,  or  any 
combination  of  nations,  intend  to  get  the  canal 
away  from  us,  they  won't  make  the  attack  from 
one  point.  They'll  come  at  us  seven  different 
ways  for  Sunday,  and  I've  never  heard  yet  of  a 
gun  that  can  shoot  seven  ways  at  once.  That's 
why  so  many  will  be  needed. 

"But,  as  I  said,  I  don't  know  just  what  type 
the  Ordnance  Department  will  favor,  and  I  want 
to  get  a  line.  Then,  even  if  I  invent  a  cannon 
that  will  outshoot  all  the  others,  they  may  not 


42         TOM  SWIFT  'AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

take  mine.  Though  if  they  do,  and  buy  a  nunv 
her  of  them,  I'll  be  more  than  repaid  for  my 
labor,  besides  having  the  satisfaction  of  helping 
my  country." 

"Good  for  you,  Tom!  I  wish  it  was  time  to 
go  to  Sandy  Hook  now.  I'm  anxious  to  see 
that  big  gun.  Do  you  know  anything  about  it?" 

"Not  very  much.  I  have  heard  that  it  is  not 
quite  as  large  as  the  old  sixteen-inch  rifle  that 
they  had  to  throw  away  because  of  some  trouble, 
I  don't  know  just  what.  It  was  impractical,  in 
spite  of  its  size  and  great  range.  But  this  new 
gun  they  are  going  to  test  is  considerably 
smaller,  I  understand. 

"It  was  invented  by  a  General  Waller,  and  is, 
I  think,  about  twelve  inches  across  at  the  muzzle. 
In  spite  of  that  comparatively  small  size,  it  fires 
a  projectile  weighing  a  thousand  pounds,  or 
half  a  ton,  and  takes  five  hundred  pounds  of 
powder.  Its  range,  of  course,  no  one  knows  yet, 
though  I  have  heard  it  said  that  General  Waller 
claims  it  will  shoot  twenty  miles." 

"Whew!    Some  shot!" 

"I'm  going  to  beat  it,"  declared  Tom,  "and  I 
want  to  do  it  without  making  such  a  monstrous 
gun  that  it  will  be  difficult  to  cast  it. 

"You  see,  Ned,  there  is,  theoretically,  nothing 
to  prevent  the  casting  of  a  steel  rifled  cannon  that 


OFF  TO  SANDY  HOOK  43 

would  be  fifty  inches  across  at  the  muzzle,  and 
making  it  a  hundred  feet  long.  I  mean  it  could 
be  done  on  paper — figured  out  and  all  that.  But 
whether  you  would  get  a  corresponding  increase 
in  power  or  range,  and  be  able  to  throw  a  rela- 
tively larger  projectile,  is  something  no  one 
knows,  for  there  never  has  been  such  a  gun  made. 
Besides,  the  strain  of  the  big  charge  of  powder 
needed  would  be  enormous.  So  I  don't  want 
merely  to  make  a  giant  cannon.  I  want  one  that 
will  do  a  giant's  work,  and  still  be  somewhere  in 
the  middle-sized  class." 

"I  see.  Well,  you'll  probably  get  some  points 
at  Sandy  Hook." 

"I  think  so.    We  go  day  after  to-morrow." 

"Is  Mr.  Damon  going?* 

"I  think  not.  If  he  does  I'll  have  to  get 
another  pass,  for  mine  only  calls  for  two  persons. 
I  got  it  through  a  Captain  Badger,  a  friend  of 
mine,  stationed  at  the  Sandy  Hook  barracks.  He 
doesn't  have  anything  to  do  with  the  coast 
defense  guns,  but  he  got  the  pass  to  the  proving 
grounds  for  me." 

Tom  and  his  chum  talked  for  some  time  about 
the  prospects  for  making  a  giant  cannon,  and 
then  the  young  inventor,  with  Ned's  aid,  made 
some  powder  tests,  using  some  of  the  explosive 
that  had  so  nearly  caught  fire. 


44         TOM  SWIFT  'AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"It  isn't  just  what  I  want,"  Tom  decided,  after 
he  had  put  small  quantities  in  little  steel  bombs, 
and  exploded  them,  at  a  safe  distance,  and  under 
a  bank  of  earth,  by  means  of  an  electric  primer. 

"Why,  Tom,  that  powder  certainly  burst  the 
bombs  all  to  pieces,"  said  Ned,  picking  up  a 
shattered  piece  of  steel. 

"I  know,  but  it  isn't  powerful  enough  for  me. 
I'm  going  to  send  for  samples  of  another  kind, 
and  if  I  can't  get  what  I  want  I'll  make  my  own 
powder.  But  come  on  now,  this  stuff  gives  me 
a  headache.  Let's  take  a  little  flight  in  the 
Humming  Bird.  We'll  go  see  Mr.  Damon,"  and 
soon  the  two  lads  were  in  the  speedy  little  mono- 
plane, skimming  along  like  the  birds.  The  fresh 
air  soon  blew  «way  their  headaches,  caused  by 
the  fumes  from  the  nitro-glycerine,  which  was 
the  basis  of  the  powder.  Dynamite  will  often 
produce  a  headache  in  those  who  work  with  it. 

Two  days  later  Tom  and  Ned  set  off  for  Sandy 
Hook. 

This  long,  neck-like  strip  of  land  on  the  New 
Jersey  coast  is,  as  most  of  you  know,  one  of  the 
principal  defenses  of  our  country. 

Foreign  vessels  that  steam  into  New  York 
harbor  first  have  to  pass  the  line  of  terrible  guns 
that,  back  of  the  earth  and  concrete  defenses, 


OFF.  TO  SANDY  HOOK  45 

look  frowningly  out  to  sea.  It  is  a  wonderful 
place. 

On  the  Sandy  Hook  Bay  side  of  the  Hook 
there  is  a  life-saving  station.  Right  across,  on 
the  sea  side,  are  the  big  guns.  Between  are  the 
barracks  where  the  soldiers  live,  and  part  of  the 
land  is  given  over  to  a  proving  ground,  where 
many  of  the  big  guns  are  taken  to  be  tested, 

Tom  and  Ned  reached  New  York  City  without 
incident  of  moment,  and,  after  a  night  spent  at  a 
hotel,  they  went  to  the  Battery,  whence  the  small 
government  steamer  leaves  every  day  for  Sandy 
Hook.  It  is  a  trip  of  twenty-one  miles,  and  as 
the  bay  was  rather  rough  that  day,  Tom  and  Ned 
had  a  taste  of  a  real  sea  voyage.  But  they  were 
too  experienced  travelers  to  mind  that,  though 
some  other  visitors  were  made  quite  ill. 

A  landing  was  made  on  the  bay  side  of  the 
Hvx>k,  it  being  too  rough  to  permit  of  a  dock 
being  constructed  on  the  ocean  side. 

"Now  we'll  see  what  luck  we  have,"  spoke 
Tom,  as  he  and  Ned,  inquiring  the  way  to  the 
proving  grounds  from  a  soldier  on  duty,  started 
for  them.  On  the  way  they  passed  some  of  the 
fortifications. 

"Look  at  that  gun!"  exclaimed  Ned,  pointing 
to  a  big  cannon  which  seemed  to  be  crouched 
down  in  a  sort  of  concrete  pit.  "How  can  thejr 


46         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

fire  that,  Tom?  Tke  muzzle  points  directly  at 
the  stone  wall  Does  the  wall  open  when  they 
want  to  fire?" 

"No,  the  gun  raises  up,  peeps  over  the  -wall,  so 
to  speak,  shoots  out  its  projectile,  and  then 
crouches  down  again." 

"Oh,  you  mean  a  disappearing  gun." 

"That's  it,  Ned.  See,  it  works  by  compi^essed 
air,"  and  Tom  showed  his  chum  how,  when  the 
gun  was  loaded,  the  projectile  in  place,  and  the 
breech-block  screwed  fast,  the  officer  in  charge  of 
the  firing  squad  would,  on  getting  the  range  from 
the  soldier  detailed  to  calculate  it,  make  the  ne- 
cessary adjustments,  and  pull  the  lever. 

The  compressed  air  would  fill  the  cylinders, 
forcing  the  gun  to  rise  on  toggle-jointed  arms, 
so  that  the  muzzle  was  above  the  bomb-proof 
wall  Then  it  would  be  fired,  and  sink  back 
again,  out  of  sight  of  the  enemy. 

The  boys  looked  at  several  different  types  of 
big  rifled  cannon,  and  then  passed  on.  They 
could  hear  firing  in  the  distance,  some  of  the  ex- 
plosions shaking  the  ground. 

"They're  making  some  tests  now,"  said  Tom, 
hurrying  forward. 

Ned  followed  until,  passing  a  sort  of  machine 
shop,  the  lads  came  to  where  a  sentry  paced  up 
and  down  a  concrete  walk. 


OFF  TO  SANDY  HOOK  47 

"Are  these  the  proving  grounds  ?"  asked  Tom. 

"This  is  the  entrance  to  them,"  replied  the 
soldier,  bringing  his  rifle  to  "port,"  according  to 
the  regulations.  "What  do  you  want?" 

"To  go  in  and  watch  the  gun  tests,"  replied 
Tom.  "I  have  a  permit,"  and  he  held  it  out  so 
the  soldier  could  see  it 

"That  permit  is  no  good  here/'  the  sentry  ex- 
claimed. 

"No  good?"  faltered  Tom. 

"No,  it  has  to  be  countersigned  by  General 
Waller.  And,  as  he's  on  the  proving  grounds 
now,  you  can't  see  him.  He's  getting  ready  for 
the  test  of  his  new  cannon." 

"But  that's  just  what  we  want  to  see!"  cried 
Tom.  "We  want  to  get  in  there  purposely  for 
that.  Can't  you  send  word  to  General  Waller?" 

"I  can't  leave  my  post,"  replied  the  sentry, 
shortly.  "You'll  have  to  come  another  time, 
when  the  General  isn't  busy.  You  can't  get  in 
unless  he  countersigns  that  permit." 

"Then  it  may  be  too  late  to  witness  the  test," 
objected  the  young  inventor.  "Isn't  there  some 
way  I  can  get  word  to  him  ?" 

"I  don't  think  so,"  replied  the  sentry.  "And 
I'll  have  to  ask  you  to  leave  this  vicinity.  No 
strangers  are  allowed  on  the  proving  grounds 
without  a  proper  pass." 


CHAPTER   VI 

TESTING  THE  WALLER  GUN 

TOM  looked  at  Ned  in  dismay.  After  all  their 
work  and  planning,  to  be  thus  thwarted,  and  by 
a  mere  technicality !  As  they  stood  there,  hardly 
knowing  what  to  do,  the  sound  of  a  tremendous 
explosion  came  to  their  ears  from  behind  the  big 
pile  of  earth  and  concrete  that  formed  the  bomb- 
proof around  the  testing  ground. 

"What's  that?"  cried  Ned,  as  the  earth  shook. 

"Just  trying  some  of  the  big  guns,"  explained 
the  sentry,  who  was  not  a  bad-natured  chap.  He 
had  to  do  his  duty.  "You'd  better  move  on,"  he 
suggested.  "If  anything  happens  the  government 
isn't  responsible,  you  know." 

"I  wish  there  was  some  way  of  getting  in 
there,"  murmured  Tom. 

"You  can  see  General  Waller  after  the  test, 
and  he  will  probably  countersign  the  permit," 
explained  the  sentry. 

48 


TESTING  THE  WALLER  GUN.  49 

"And  we  won't  see  the  test  of  the  gun  I'm  most 
interested  in/'  objected  Tom.  "If  I  could 
only " 

He  stopped  as  he  noticed  the  sentry  salute 
someone  coming  up  from  the  rear.  Tom  and  Ned 
turned  to  behold  a  pleasant-faced  officer,  who, 
at  the  sight  of  the  young  inventor,  exclaimed : 

"Well,  well!  If  it  isn't  my  old  friend  Tom 
Swift !  So  you  got  here  on  my  permit  after  all  ?" 

"Yes,  Captain  Badger,"  replied  the  lad,  and 
then  with  a  rueful  face  he  added :  "But  it  doesn't 
seem  to  be  doing  me  much  good.  I  can't  get  into 
the  proving  grounds." 

"You  can't?  Why  not?"  and  he  looked  sharply 
at  the  sentry. 

"Very  sorry,  sir,"  spoke  the  man  on  guard, 
"but  General  Waller  has  left  orders,  Captain 
Badger,  that  no  outsiders  can  enter  the  proving 
grounds  when  his  new  gun  is  being  tested  unless 
he  countersigns  the  permits.  And  he's  engaged 
just  now.  I'm  sorry,  but " 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,  Flynn,"  said  Captain 
Badger.  "It  isn't  your  fault,  of  course.  I  sup- 
pose there  is  no  rule  against  my  going  in  there  ?" 
and  he  smiled. 

"Certainly  not,  sir.  Any  officer  may  go  in," 
and  the  guard  stepped  to  one  side. 

"Let  me  have  that  pass,  Tom,  and  wait  here  for 


50         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

me,"  said  the  Captain.  "I'll  see  what  I  can  do 
for  you,"  and  the  young  officer,  whose  acquaint- 
ance Tom  had  made  at  the  tests  when  the  gov- 
ernment was  purchasing  some  aeroplanes  for  the 
army,  hurried  off. 

He  came  back  presently,  and  by  his  face  the 
lads  knew  he  had  been  successful. 

"It's  all  right,"  he  said  with  a  smile.  "General 
Waller  countersigned  the  pass  without  even  look- 
ing at  it.  He's  so  excited  over  the  coming  test 
of  his  gun  that  he  hardly  knows  what  he  is  doing. 
Come  on  in,  boys.  Ill  go  with  you." 

"Then  they  haven't  tested  his  gun  yet?"  asked 
Tom,  eagerly,  anxious  to  know  whether  he  had 
missed  anything. 

"No,  they're  going  to  do  so  in  about  half  an 
hour.  You'll  have  time  to  look  around  a  bit. 
Come  on,"  and  showing  the  sentinel  the  counter- 
signed pass,  Captain  Badger  led  the  two  youths 
into  the  proving  grounds. 

Tom  and  Ned  saw  so  much  to  interest  them 
that  they  did  not  know  &t  which  to  look  first.  In 
some  places  officers  and  firing  squads  were  test- 
ing small-calibre  machine  guns,  which  shot  off  a 
round  with  a  noise  like  a  string  of  firecrackers 
on  the  Chinese  New  Year's.  On  other  barbettes 
larger  guns  were  being  tested,  the  noise  being 
almost  deafening. 


TESTING  THE  WALLER  GUN  51' 

"Stand  on  your  tiptoes,  and  open  your  moutfi 
when  you  see  a  big  cannon  about  to  be  fired," 
advised  Captain  Badger,  as  he  walked  alongside 
the  boys. 

"What  good  does  that  do?"  inquired  Ned. 

"It  makes  your  contact  with  the  earth  as  small 
as  possible — standing  on  your  toes/'  the  officer 
explained,  "and  so  reduces  the  tremor.  Opening 
your  mouth,  in  a  measure,  equalizes  the  changed 
air  pressure,  caused  by  the  vacuum  made  when  the 
powder  explodes.  In  other  words,  you  get  the 
same  sort  of  pressure  down  inside  your  throat, 
and  in  the  tubes  leading  to  the  ear — the  same 
pressure  inside,  as  outside. 

"Often  the  firing  of  big  guns  will  burst  the  ear 
drums  of  the  officers  near  the  cannon,  and  this 
may  often  be  prevented  by  opening  the  mouth. 
It's  just  like  going  through  a  deep  tunnel,  or 
sometimes  when  an  elevator  descends  quickly 
from  a  great  height.  There  is  too  much  outside 
air  pressure  on  the  ear  drums.  By  opening  your 
mouth  and  swallowing  rapidly,  the  pressure  is 
nearly  equaled,  and  you  feel  no  discomfort." 

The  boys  tried  this  when  the  next  big  gun  was 
fired,  and  they  found  it  true.  They  noticed  quite 
a  crowd  of  officers  and  men  about  a  certain  large 
barbette,  and  Captain  Badger  led  them  in  that 
direction. 


52         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Is  that  General  Waller's  gun?"  asked  Tom. 

"That's  where  they  are  going  to  test  it,"  was 
the  answer. 

^  Eagerly  Tom  and  Ned  pressed  forward.  No 
one  of  the  many  officers  and  soldiers  grouped 
about  the  new  cannon  seemed  to  notice  them.  A 
tall  man,  who  seemed  very  nervous  and  excited, 
was  hurrying  here  and  there,  giving  orders 
rapidly. 

"How  is  that  range  now  ?"  he  asked.  "Let  me 
take  a  look!  Are  you  sure  the  patrol  vessels 
are  far  enough  out?  I  think  this  projectile  is 
going  farther  than  any  of  you  gentlemen  have 
calculated." 

"I  believe  we  have  correctly  estimated  the  dis- 
tance," answered  someone,  and  the  two  entered 
into  a  discussion. 

"That  excited  officer  is  General  Waller,"  ex- 
plained Captain  Badger,  in  a  low  voice,  to  Tom 
and  Ned. 

"I  guessed  as  much,"  replied  the  young  in- 
ventor. Then  he  went  closer  to  get  a  better  look 
at  the  big  cannon. 

I  say  big  cannon,  and  yet  it  was  not  the  largest 
the  government  had.  In  fact,  Tom  estimated  the 
calibre  to  be  less  than  twelve  inches,  but  the  can- 
non was  very  long — much  longer  in  proportion 
than  guns  of  greater  muzzle  diameter.  Then, 


TESTING  THE  WALLER  GUN  53 

too,  the  breech,  or  rear  part,  was  very  thick  and 
heavy. 

"He  must  be  going  to  use  a  tremendous  lot  of 
powder,"  said  Tom. 

"He  is,"  answered  Captain  Badger.  "Some 
of  us  think  he  is  going  to  use  too  much,  but  he 
says  it  is  impossible  to  burst  his  gun.  He  wants 
to  make  a  long-range  record  shot,  and  maybe  he 
win." 

"That's  a  new  kind  of  breech  block,"  com- 
mented Tom,  as  he  watched  the  mechanism  being 
operated. 

"Yes,  that's  General  Waller's  patent,  too. 
They're  going  to  fire  soon." 

I  might  explain,  briefly,  for  the  benefit  of  you 
boys  who  have  never  seen  a  big,  modern  cannon, 
that  it  consists  of  a  central  core  of  cast  steel.  This 
is  rifled,  just  as  a  small  rifle  is  bored,  with  twisted 
grooves  throughout  its  length.  The  grooves,  or 
rifling,  impart  a  twisting  motion  to  the  projec- 
tiles, and  keep  them  in  a  straighter  line. 

After  the  central  core  is  made  and  rifled,  thick 
jackets  of  steel  are  "shrunk"  on  over  the  rear 
part  of  the  gun.  Sometimes  several  jackets  are 
put  on,  one  over  the  other,  to  make  the  gun 
Stronger. 

If  you  have  ever  seen  a  blacksmith  put  a  tire 
OH  a  wheel  vou  will  understand  what  I  mean. 


54         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

The  tire  is  heated,  and  this  expands  it,  or  makes 
it  larger.  It  is  put  on  hot,  and  when  it  cools  it 
shrinks,  getting  smaller,  and  gripping  the  rim  of 
the  wheel  in  a  strong  embrace.  That  is  what  the 
jackets  of  steel  do  to  the  big  guns. 

A  big  rifled  cannon  is  loaded  from  the  rear,  or 
breech,  just  as  is  a  breech-loading  shotgun  of 
rifle.  That  is,  the  cannon  is  opened  at  the  back 
and  the  projectile  is  put  in  by  means  of  a  derrick, 
for  often  the  projectiles  weigh  a  thousand  pounds 
or  more.  Next  comes  the  powder — hundreds  o{ 
pounds  of  it — and  then  it  is  necessary  to  close  the 
breech. 

The  breech  block  does  this.  That  block  is  a 
ponderous  piece  of  steel,  quite  complicated,  and 
it  swings  on  a  hinge  fastened  to  one  side  of  the 
rear  of  the  gun.  Once  it  is  swung  back  into  place, 
it  is  made  fast  by  means  of  screw  threads,  wedges 
or  in  whatever  way  the  inventor  of  the  gun  deems 
best. 

The  breech  block  must  be  very  strong,  and  held 
firmly  in  place,  or  the  terrific  force  of  the  powder 
would  blow  it  out,  wreck  the  gun  and  kill  those 
behind  it.  You  see,  the  breech  block  really  stands 
a  great  part  of  the  strain.  The  powder  is  be- 
tween it  and  the  projectile,  and  there  is  a  sort  of 
warfare  to  see  which  will  give  way — the  projectile 
w  the  block.  In  most  cases  the  projectile  grace- 


TESTING  THE  WALLER  GUN  55 

fully  bows,  so  to  speak,  and  skips  out  of  the  muz- 
zle of  the  gun,  though  sometimes  the  big  breech 
block  will  be  shattered. 

With  eager  eyes  Tom  and  Ned  watched  the 
preparations  for  firing  the  big  gun.  The  charge 
of  powder  was  hoisted  out  of  the  bomb-proof 
chamber  below  the  barbette,  and  then  the  great 
projectile  was  brought  up  in  slings.  At  the  sight 
of  that  Tom  realized  that  the  gun  was  no  ordi- 
nary one,  for  the  great  piece  of  steel  was  nearly 
three  feet  long,  and  must  have  weighed  nearly  a 
thousand  pounds.  Truly,  much  powder  would  be 
needed  to  send  that  on  its  way. 

"I'm  afraid,  General,  that  you  are  using  too 
much  of  that  strong  powder,"  Tom  heard  one 
officer  say  to  the  inventor  of  the  gun.  "It  may 
burst  the  breech." 

"Nonsense,  Colonel  Washburn.  I  tell  you  it  is 
impossible  to  burst  my  gun — impossible,  sir!  I 
have  allowed  for  every  emergency,  and  calculated 
every  strain.  I  have  a  margin  of  safety  equal  to 
fifty  per  cent" 

"Very  well,  I  hope  it  proves  a  success." 

"Of  course  it  will.  It  is  impossible  to  burst 
my  gun!  Now,  are  we  ready  for  the  test" 

The  gun  was  rather  crude  in  form,  not  hav- 
ing received  its  final  polish,  and  it  was  mounted 
on  a  temporary  carriage.  But  even  with  that 


56         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

Tom  could  see  that  it  was  a  wonderful  weapon, 
though  he  thought  he  would  have  put  on  another 
jacket  toward  the  muzzle,  to  further  strengthen 
that  portion. 

"I'm  going  to  make  a  gun  bigger  than  that," 
said  Tom  to  Ned.  He  spoke  rather  louder  than 
he  intended,  and,  as  it  was  at  a  moment  when 
there  was  a  period  of  silence,  the  words  carried 
to  General  Waller,  who  was  at  that  moment  near 
iTom. 

"What's  that?"  inquired  the  rather  fiery-tem- 
pered officer,  as  he  looked  sharply  at  our  hero. 

"I  said  I  was  going  to  make  a  larger  gun  than 
that,"  repeated  Tom,  modestly. 

"Sir!  Do  you  know  what  you  are  saying? 
How  did  you  come  in  here,  anyhow  ?  I  thought 
no  civilians  were  to  be  admitted  to-day!  Explain 
how  you  got  here !" 

Tom  felt  an  angry  flush  mounting  to  his 
cheeks. 

"I  came  in  here  on  a  pass  countersigned  by 
you,"  he  replied. 

"A  pass  countersigned  by  me?  Let  me  see 
it." 

Tom  passed  it  over. 

"Humph,  it  doesn't  seem  to  be  forged,"  went 
on  the  pompous  officer.  "Who  are  you,  any- 
how?" 


TESTING  THE  WALLER  GUff  53 

"Tom  Swift" 

"Hum!" 

"General  Waller,  permit  me  to  introduce  Tom 
Swift  to  you,"  spoke  Captain  Badger,  stepping 
forward,  and  trying  not  to  smile.  "He  is  one 
of  our  foremost  inventors.  It  is  his  type  of 
monoplane  that  the  government  has  adopted  for 
the  coming  maneuvers  at  Panama,  you  may  re- 
call, and  he  was  very  helpful  to  Uncle  Sam  in 
stopping  that  swindling  on  the  border  last  year 
•—Tom  and  his  big  searchlight  Mr.  Swift,  Gen- 
eral Waller,"  and  Captain  Badger  bowed  as  he 
completed  the  introduction. 

"What's  that  Tom  Swift  here?  Let  me 
meet  him!"  exclaimed  an  elderly  officer  coming 
through  the  crowd.  The  others  parted  to  make 
way  for  him,  as  he  seemed  to  be  a  person  of  some 
importance,  to  judge  by  his  uniform,  and  the 
medals  he  wore. 

"Tom  Swift  here!"  he  went  on.  "I  want  to 
shake  hands  with  you,  Tom !  I  haven't  seen  you 
since  I  negotiated  with  you  for  the  purchase  of 
those  submarines  you  invented,  and  which  have 
done  such  splendid  service  for  the  government 
Tom,  I'm  glad  to  see  you  here  to-day." 

The  face  of  General  Waller  was  a  study  in 
blank  amazement 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  IMPOSSIBLE  OCCURS 

THERE  were  murmurs  throughout  the  thfong 
about  the  big  gun,  as  the  officer  approached  Tom 
Swift  and  shook  hands  with  him. 

"What  have  you  in  mind  now,  Tom,  that  you 
come  to  Sandy  Hook?"  the  much-medaled  officer 
asked. 

"Nothing  much,  Admiral,"  answered  our  hero. 

"Oh,  yes,  you  have !"  returned  Admiral  Wood-* 
burn,  head  of  the  naval  forces  of  Uncle  Sam, 
"You've  got  some  idea  in  your  head,  or  you 
wouldn't  come  to  see  this  test  of  my  friend's  gun. 
Well,  if  you  can  invent  anything  as  good  for 
coast  defense,  or  even  interior  defense,  as  your 
submarines,  it  will  be  in  keeping  with  what  you 
have  done  in  the  past  I  congratulate  you,  Gen- 
eral Waller,  on  having  Tom  Swift  here  to  give 
you  the  benefit  of  some  of  his  ideas." 

"I — I  haven't  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Mr. 
Swift  before,"  said  the  gun  inventor,  stiffly.  "I 

58 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  OCCURS  59 

did  not  recognize  his  name  when  I  countersigned 
his  pass." 

It  was  plain  that  the  greeting  of  Tom  by  Ad- 
miral Woodburn  had  had  a  marked  effect  in 
changing  sentiment  toward  our  hero.  Captain 
Badger  smiled  as  he  noticed  with  what  different 
eyes  the  gun  inventor  now  regarded  the  lad. 

"Well,  if  Tom  Swift  gives  you  any  points 
about  your  gun,  you  want  to  adopt  them,"  went 
oai  the  Admiral.  "I  thought  I  knew  something 
about  submarines,  but  Tom  taught  me  some 
things,  too;  didn't  you,  Tom?" 

"Oh,  it  was  just  a  simple  matter,  Admiral," 
said  Tom,  modestly.  "Just  that  little  point  about 
the  intake  valves  and  the  ballast  tanks." 

"But  they  changed  the  whole  matter.  Yes, 
General,  you  take  Tom's  advice — if  he  gives  you 
any." 

"I  don't  know  that  I  will  need  any — as  yet," 
replied  General  Waller.  "I  am  confident  my  gun 
will  be  a  success  as  it  is  at  present  constructed. 
Later,  however,  if  I  should  decide  to  make  any 
changes,  I  will  gladly  avail  myself  of  Mr.  Swift's 
counsel,"  and  he  bowed  stiffly  to  Tom.  "We  will 
now  proceed  with  the  test,"  he  went  on.  "Kindly 
send  a  wireless  to  the  patrol  ships  that  we  are 
about  to  fire,  and  ask  them  to  note  carefully  where 
the  projectile  falls" 


60         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Very  good,  sir,"  spoke  the  officer  in  inline-, 
diate  charge  of  the  matter,  as  he  saluted.  Soon 
from  the  aerials  snapped  the  vicious  sparks  that 
told  of  the  wireless  telegraph  being  worked. 

I  might  explain  that  near  the  spot  where  the 
projectile  was  expected  to  fall  into  the  sea— 
about  fifteen  miles  from  Sandy  Hook — several 
war  vessels  were  stationed  to  warn  shipping 
to  give  the  place  a  wide  berth.  This  was 
easy,  since  the  big  gun  had  been  aimed  at  a  spot 
outside  of  the  steamship  lanes.  Aiming  the  rifle 
in  a  certain  direction,  and  giving  it  a  definite 
angle  of  inclination,  made  it  practically  certain 
just  where  the  shot  would  fall.  This  is  called 
"getting  the  range,"  and  while,  of  course,  the 
exact  limit  of  fire  of  the  new  gun  was  not  known, 
it  had  been  computed  as  nearly  as  possible. 

"Is  everything  ready  now?"  asked  General 
Waller,  while  Tom  was  conversing  with  his 
friends,  Captain  Badger  and  Admiral  Woodburn, 
Ned  taking  part  in  the  conversation  from  time  to 
time. 

"All  ready,  sir,"  was  the  assurance.  The  in- 
ventor was  plainly  nervous  as  the  crucial  moment 
of  the  test  approached.  He  went  here  and  there 
upon  the  barbette,  testing  the  various  levers  and 
gear  wheels  of  the  gun. 

'The  projectile  and  powder  had  been  put  in,  the 


6i 

breech-block  screwed  into  place,  the  primer  had 
been  inserted,  and  all  that  remained  was  to  press 
the  button  that  would  make  the  electrical  con- 
nection, and  explode  the  charge.  This  act  of 
firing  the  gun  had  been  intrusted  to  one  of  the 
soldiers,  for  General  Waller  and  his  brother  offi- 
cers were  to  retire  to  a  bomb-proof,  whence  they 
would  watch  the  effect  of  the  fire,  and  note  the 
course  of  the  projectile. 

"It  seems  to  me,"  remarked  Ned,  "that  the 
soldier  who  is  going  to  fire  the  gun  is  in  the 
most  danger." 

"He  would  be — if  it  exploded,"  spoke  Tom,  for 
his  officer  friends  had  joined  their  colleagues, 
most  of  whom  were  now  walking  toward  the 
shelter.  "But  I  think  there  is  little  danger. 

"You  see,  the  electric  wires  are  long  enough 
to  enable  him  to  stand  some  distance  from  the 
gun.  And,  if  he  likes,  he  can  crouch  behind  that 
concrete  wall  of  the  next  barbette.  Still,  there  is 
some  chance  of  an  accident,  for,  no  matter  how 
carefully  you  calculate  the  strain  of  a  bursting 
charge  of  powder,  and  how  strongly  you  con- 
struct the  breech-block  to  stand  the  strain,  there 
is  always  the  possibility  of  a  flaw  in  the  metal. 
So,  Ned,  I  think  we'll  just  go  to  the  bomb-proof 
ourselves,  when  we  see  General  Waller  making 
for  the  same  place." 


6a         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"I  suppose,"  remarked  Ned,  "that  in  actual 
warfare  anyone  who  fired  one  of  the  big  guns 
would  have  to  stand  close  to  it — closer  than  that 
soldier  is  now." 

"Oh,  yes — much,"  replied  Tom,  as  he  watched 
General  Waller  giving  the  last  instructions  to 
the  private  who  was  to  press  the  button.  "Only, 
of  course,  in  war  the  guns  will  have  been  tested, 
and  this  one  has  not.  Here  he  comes;  I  guess 
we'd  better  be  moving." 

General  Waller,  having  assured  himself  that 
everything  was  as  right  as  possible,  had  given  the 
last  word  to  the  private  and  was  now  making  his 
way  toward  the  bomb-proof,  within  which  were 
gathered  his  fellow-officers  and  friends. 

"You  had  better  retire  from  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  gun,"  said  its  inventor  to  Tom  and 
Ned,  as  he  passed  them.  "For,  while  I  have 
absolute  confidence  in  my  cannon,  and  I  know  that 
it  is  impossible  to  burst  it,  the  concussion  may  be 
unpleasant  at  such  close  range." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Tom.  "We  are  going  to 
get  in  a  safe  place." 

'He  could  not  refrain  from  contrasting  the  gen- 
eral's manner  now  with  what  it  had  been  at  first. 

As  for  Ned,  he  could  not  help  wondering  why, 
if  the  inventor  had  such  absolute  faith  in  his 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  'OCCURS  63 

weapon,  he  did  not  fire  it  himself,  even  at  the 
risk  of  a  "concussion." 

How  it  happened  was  never  accurately  known, 
as  the  soldier  declared  positively — after  he  came 
out  of  the  hospital — that  he  had  not  pressed  the 
button.  The  theory  was  that  the  wires  had  be- 
come crossed,  making-  a  short  circuit,  which 
caused  the  gun  to  go  off  prematurely. 

But  suddenly,  while  Tom,  Ned  and  General 
Waller  were  still  some  distance  away  from  the 
bomb-proof,  there  was  a  terrific  explosion.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  very  foundations  of  the  fortifica- 
tions would  be  shattered  There  was  a  roaring 
in  the  air — a  hot  burst  of  flame,  and  instantly 
such  a  vacuum  was  created  that  Tom  and  Ned 
found  themselves  gasping  for  breath. 

Dazed,  shaken  in  every  bone,  with  their  mus- 
cles sore,  they  picked  themselves  up  from  the 
ground,  along  which  they  had  been  blown  with 
great  force  in  the  direction  of  the  bomb-proof. 
Even  as  Tom  struggled  to  his  feet,  intending  to 
run  to  safety  in  fear  of  other  explosions,  he  real- 
ized what  had  happened. 

"What — what  was  it?"  cried  Ned,  as  he,  too, 
arose. 

"The  gun  burst!"  yelled  Tom. 

He  looked  to  the  left  and  saw  General  Waller 
picking  himself  up,  his  uniform  torn,  and  blood 


64         TOM  SWIFT  'AND  TJIS  'GIANT  CANNON 

streaming  from  a  cut  on  his  face.  At  the  same 
instant  Tom  was  aware  of  the  body  of  a  man 
flying  through  the  air  toward  a  distant  grass  plot, 
and  the  young  inventor  recognized  it  as  that  of 
the  soldier  who  had  been  detailed  to  fire  the  great 
cannon. 

Almost  instantaneously  as  everything  happened, 
Tom  was  aware  of  noticing  several  things,  as 
though  they  took  place  in  sequence.  He  looked 
toward  where  the  gun  had  stood.  It  was  in  ruins. 
The  young  inventor  saw  something,  which  he 
took  to  be  the  projectile,  skimming  across  the  sea 
waves,  and  he  had  a  fleeting  glimpse  of  the 
greater  portion  of  the  immense  weapon  itself 
sinking  into  the  depths  of  the  ooean. 

Then,  coming  down  from  a  great  height  in  the 
air,  he  saw  a  dark  object.  It  was  another  piece 
of  the  cannon  that  had  been  hurled  skyward. 

"Look  out!"  Tom  yelled,  instinctively,  as  he 
staggered  toward  the  bomb-proof,  Ned  following. 

He  saw  a  number  of  officers  running  out  to 
assist  General  Waller,  who  seemed  too  dazed  to 
move.  Many  of  them  had  torn  uniforms,  and 
not  a  few  were  bleeding  from  their  injuries. 
Then  the  air  seemed  filled  with  a  rain  of  small 
missiles — stones,  dirt,  gravel  and  pieces  of  metaL 


CHAPTER   VIII 

A   BIG   PROBLEM 

"ARE  you  much  hurt,  Ned?" 

Tom  Swift  bent  anxiously  over  the  prostrate 
form  of  his  chum.  A  big  piece  of  the  burst  gun 
had  fallen  close  to  Ned — so  close,  in  fact,  that 
Tom,  who  saw  it  as  he  neared  the  entrance  to  the 
bomb-proof,  shuddered  as  he  raced  back.  But 
there  was  no  sign  of  injury  on  his  chum. 

"Are  you  much  hurt,  Ned?" 

The  lad's  eyes  opened.    He  seemed  dazed. 

"No — no,  I  guess  not,"  he  answered,  slowly. 
"I — I  guess  I'm  as  much  scared  as  hurt  Tom, 
It  was  the  wind  from  that  big  piece  that  knocked 
me  down.  It  didn't  actually  hit  me." 

"No,  I  should  say  not,"  put  in  Captain  Badger, 
who  had  run  out  toward  the  two  lads.  "If  it  had 
hit  you  there  wouldn't  have  been  much  of  you  left 
to  tell  the  tale,"  and  he  nodded  toward  the 
big  piece  of  metal  Tom  had  seen  coming  down 
Irom  the  sky.  That  part  of  the  cannon  forming 

55 


66         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

a  portion  of  the  breech  had  buried  itself  deep  in 
the  earth.  It  had  landed  close  to  Ned — so  close 
that,  as  he  said,  the  wind  of  it,  as  well  as  the 
concussion,  perhaps,  had  thrown  him  with  enough 
force  to  send  the  breath  from  him. 

"Glad  to  hear  that,  old  man !"  exclaimed  Tom, 
with  a  sigh  of  relief.  "If  you'd  been  hurt  I 
should  have  blamed  myself." 

"That  would  have  been  foolish.  I  took  the 
same  chance  that  you  did,"  answered  Ned,  as  he 
arose,  and  limped  off  between  the  captain  and 
Tom. 

!A  great  silence  seemed  to  have  followed  the 
terrific  report.  And  now  the  officers  and  soldiers 
began  to  recover  from  the  stupor  into  which  the 
accident  had  thrown  them.  Sentries  began  pour- 
ing into  the  proving  grounds  from  other  portions 
of  the  barracks,  and  an  ambulance  call  was  sent  in. 

General  Waller's  comrades  had  hurried  out  to 
him,  and  were  now  leading  him  away.  He  did 
not  seem  to  be  much  hurt,  though,  like  many 
others,  he  had  received  numerous  cuts  and 
scratches  from  bits  of  stone  and  gravel  scattered 
by  the  explosion,  as  well  as  from  small  bits  of 
metal  that  were  thrown  in  all  directions. 

"Are  you  hurt,  General?"  asked  Admiral 
[Woodburn,  as  he  put  his  arm  about  the  shoulden 
of  the  inventor. 


'A  BIG  PROBLEM  675 

"No— that  is  to  say,  I  don't  think  so.  But 
what  happened?  Did  they  fire  some  other  gun 
in  our  direction  by  mistake  ?" 

For  a  moment  they  all  hesitated.  Then  the 
Admiral  said,  gently: 

"No,  General.  It  was  your  own  gun — it 
burst." 

"My  gun!    My  gun  burst?" 

"That  was  it.    Fortunately,  no  one  was  killed." 

"My  gun  burst!  How  could  that  happen?  I 
3rew  every  plan  for  that  gun  myself.  I  made 
every  allowance.  I  tell  you  it  was  impossible  for 
it  to  burst !" 

"But  it  did  burst,  General,"  went  on  the  Ad- 
miral. "You  can  see  for  yourself,"  and  he  turned 
around  and  waved  his  hand  toward  the  barbette 
where  the  gun  had  been  mounted.  All  that  re- 
mained of  it  now  was  part  of  the  temporary  car- 
riage, and  a  small  under-portion  of  the  muzzle. 
The  entire  breech,  with  the  great  block,  had  been 
blown  into  fragments,  so  powerful  was  the  pow- 
der used.  The  projectile,  one  watcher  reported, 
had  gone  about  three  hundred  yards  over  the  top 
of  the  barbette  and  then  dropped  into  the  sea, 
very  little  of  the  force  of  the  explosive  having 
been  expended  on  that  A  large  piece  of  the  gun 
had  also  been  lost  in  the  water  off  shore. 

"My  gun  burst!    My  gun  burst!"  murmured 


68         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

General  Waller,  as  if  unable  to  comprehend  it 
"My  gun  burst — it  is  impossible !" 

"But  it  did,"  spoke  Admiral  Woodburn,  softly. 
"Come,  you  had  better  see  tfie  surgeon.  You  may 
be  more  seriously  injured  than  you  think." 

"Was  anyone  else  hurt?"  asked  the  inventor, 
listlessly.  He  seemed  to  have  lost  all  interest, 
for  the  time  being. 

"No  one  seriously,  as  far  as  we  can  learn,"  was 
the  answer. 

"What  of  the  man  who  fired  the  gun?"  in- 
quired the  General. 

"He  was  blown  high  into  the  air,"  said  Tom. 
"I  saw  him." 

"But  he  is  not  injured  beyond  some  bruises," 
put  in  one  of  the  ambulance  surgeons.  "We  have 
taken  him  to  the  hospital.  He  fell  on  a  pile  of 
bags  that  had  held  concrete,  and  they  saved  him. 
It  was  a  miraculous  escape." 

"I  am  glad  of  it,"  said  General  Waller.    "It  is 

bad  enough  to  feel  that  I  made  some  mistake, 

causing  the  gun  to  burst ;  but  I  would  never  cease 

•to  reproach  myself  if  I  felt  that  the  man  who 

fired  it  was  killed,  or  even  hurt." 

His  friends  led  him  away,  and  Tom  and  Ned 
went  over  to  look  at  what  remained  of  the  great 
gun.  Truly,  the  powder,  expending  its  force  in  a 
direction  not  meant  for  it,  had  done  terrific  havoc, 


'A  BIG  PROBLEM  69 

Even  part  of  the  solid  concrete  bed  of  the  bar- 
bette had  been  torn  up. 

An  official  inquiry  was  at  once  started,  and, 
while  it  would  take  some  time  to  complete  it  (for 
the  parts  of  the  gun  remaining  were  to  be  sub- 
jected to  an  exhaustive  test  to  determine  the  cause 
of  the  weakness),  it  was  found  that  there  was 
some  defect  in  the  wiring  and  battery  that  was 
used  to  fire  the  charge. 

The  soldier  who  was  to  press  the  button  was 
sure  he  had  not  done  so,  as  he  had  been  ordered 
to  wait  until  General  Waller  gave  the  signal  from 
the  bomb-proof.  But  the  gun  went  off  before  its 
inventor  reached  that  place  of  safety.  Just  what 
had  caused  the  premature  discharge  could  never 
be  learned,  as  part  of  the  firing  apparatus  had 
been  blown  to  atoms. 

"Well,  Tom,  what  do  you  think  of  it?"  asked 
Ned,  who  had  now  fully  recovered  from  the 
shock.  The  two  were  about  to  leave  the  proving 
grounds,  having  seen  all  that  they  cared  to. 

"I  don't  know  just  what  to  think,"  was  the  an- 
swer. "It  sure  was  a  big  explosion,  and  it  goes  to 
prove  that,  no  matter  how  many  calculations  you 
make,  when  you  try  a  new  powder  in  a  new  gun 
you  don't  know  what's  going  to  happen,  until 
after  it  has  happened — and  then  it's  too  late. 
It's  a  big  problem,  Ned." 


70         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Do  you  think  you  can  solve  it  ?  Are  you  still 
going  on  with  your  plan  to  build  the  biggest 
cannon  ever  made?" 

"I  sure  am,  Ned,  though  I  don't  know  that 
I'll  make  out  any  better  than  General  Waller  did. 
It's  too  bad  his  was  a  failure;  but  I  think  I  see 
where  he  made  some  mistakes." 

"Oh,  you  do ;  eh  ?"  suddenly  exclaimed  a  voice, 
and  from  a  nearby  parapet,  where  he  had  gone  to 
look  at  one  of  the  pieces  of  his  gun,  stepped  Gen- 
eral Waller.  "So  you  think  I  made  some  mis- 
takes, Tom  Swift?  Where,  pray?" 

"In  making  the  breech.  The  steel  jackets  were 
of  uneven  thickness,  making  the  strain  unequal 
Then,  too,  I  do  not  think  the  powder  was  suf- 
ficiently tested.  It  was  probably  of  uneven 
strength.  That  is  only  my  opinion,  sir." 

"Well,  you  are  rather  young  to  give  opinions 
to  men  who  have  devoted  almost  all  their  lives  to 
the  study  of  high  explosives." 

"I  realize  that,  sir;  but  you  asked  me  for  my 
opinion.  I  shall  hope  to  profit  by  your  mistakes, 
too.  That  is  one  reason  I  wanted  to  see  this  test" 

"Then  you  are  seriously  determined  to  make  a 
gun  that  you  think  will  rival  mine." 

"I  am,  General  Waller." 

"For  what  purpose — to  sell  to  some  foreign 
government?" 


A  BIG  PROBLEM  71 

"No,  sir !"  cried  Tom,  with  flashing  eyes.  "If 
I  am  successful  in  making  a  cannon  that  will  fire 
the  longest  shots  on  record,  I  shall  offer  it  to 
Uncle  Sam  first  of  all.  If  he  does  not  want  it,  I 
|shall  not  dispose  of  it  to  any  foreign  country !" 

"Hum!  Well,  I  don't  believe  you'll  succeed. 
I  intend  to  rebuild  my  gun  at  once,  though  I  may 
make  some  changes  in  it.  I  am  sure  I  shall  suc- 
ceed the  next  time.  But  as  for  you — a  mere 
youth — to  hope  to  rival  men  who  have  made  this 
problem  a  life-study — it  is  preposterous,  sir!  Ut- 
terly preposterous!"  and  he  uttered  these  words 
much  as  he  had  declared  that  it  was  impossible 
for  his  gun  to  burst,  even  after  it  was  in  frag- 
fcients. 

"Come  on,  Ned,"  said  Tom,  in  a  low  voice. 
"We'll  go  back  home." 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE   NEW   POWDER 

"BLESS  my  cartridge  belt,  Tom,  you  don't 
really  mean  to  say  that  stuff  is  powder!"  ex- 
claimed Mr.  Damon. 

"That's  what  I  hope  it  will  prove  to  be — and 
powerful  powder  at  that." 

"Why,  it  looks  more  like  excelsior  than  any- 
thing else,"  went  on  the  odd  man,  gingerly  taking 
up  some  yellowish  shreds  in  his  fingers. 

"And  it  will  burn  as  harmlessly  as  excelsior  in 
the  open  air,"  went  on  Tom.  "But  I  hope  to 
prove,  when  it  is  confined  in  a  chamber,  that  it 
will  be  highly  explosive.  I'm  going  to  make  a 
test  of  it  soon." 

"Give  me  good  notice,  so  I  can  get  over  in  the 
next  State!"  exclaimed  Ned  Newton,  with  a 
laugh. 

This  was  several  days  after  our  friends  had 
returned  from  the  disastrous  gun  test  at  Sandy 

72 


THE  NEW  POWDER  73 

Hook.  Tom  had  at  once  gotten  to  work  on  the 
problem  that  confronted  him — a  problem  of  his 
own  making — to  build  a  giant  cannon  that  would 
make  the  longest  shots  on  record.  And  he  had 
first  turned  his  attention  to  the  powder,  or  explo- 
sive, to  be  used. 

"For,"  he  said,  "there  is  no  use  having  a  big 
gun  unless  you  can  fire  it.  And  the  gun  I  am 
planning  will  need  something  more  powerful  in 
the  powder  line  than  any  I've  ever  heard  of." 

"Stronger  than  the  kind  General  Waller  used?" 
inquired  Ned 

"Yes,  but  I'll  make  my  cannon  correspondingly 
Stronger,  too,  so  there  will  be  no  danger." 

"Bless  my  shoe  buttons!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Da- 
mon. "You  boys  must  have  had  your  nerve  with 
you  to  stay  around  Sandy  Hook  after  that  gun 
Went  up  in  the  air." 

"Oh,  the  danger  was  all  over  soon  after  it  be- 
gan," spoke  Tom,  with  a  smile.  "But  now  I'm 
•going  to  test  some  of  this  powder.  If  you  want  to 
run  away,  Mr.  Damon,  I'll  have  Koku  take  you  up 
an  one  of  the  airships,  and  you'll  certainly  be  safe 
a  mile  or  so  in  the  air,"  for  Tom  had  instructed 
his  giant  servant  how  to  run  one  of  the  simpler 
biplanes. 

"No — no,  Tom,  I'll  stick!"  exclaimed  the  ec- 
centric man.  "I'll  not  promise  not  to  hide  behind 


74         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON' 

the  fence,  or  something  like  that,  though,  Tom; 
but  I'll  stick." 

"So  will  I,"  added  Ned.  "How  are  you  going 
to  make  the  test,  Tom  ?" 

"I'll  tell  you  in  a  minute.  I  want  to  do  a  little 
figuring  first." 

Tom  had,  before  going  to  Sandy  Hook,  made 
some  experiments  in  powder  manufacturing,  but 
they  had  not  been  very  satisfactory.  He  had  not 
been  able  to  get  power  enough.  On  his  return  he 
had  undertaken  rather  a  daring  innovation.  He 
had  mingled  two  varieties  of  powder,  and  the 
resulting  combination  would,  he  hoped,  prove 
just  what  he  wanted. 

The  powder  was  in  gelatin  form,  being  made 
with  nitro-glycerine  as  a  base.  It  looked,  as  Mr. 
Damon  had  said,  like  a  bunch  of  excelsior,  only 
it  was  yellow  instead  of  white,  and  it  felt  not  un- 
like pieces  of  dry  macaroni. 

"I  have  shredded  the  powder  in  this  manner," 
Tom  explained,  "so  that  it  will  explode  more 
evenly  and  quickly.  I  want  it  to  burn  as  nearly 
instantaneously  as  possible,  and  I  think  it  will  in 
this  form." 

"But  how  are  you  going  to  tell  how  powerful 

it  is  unless  you  fire  it  in  a  cannon?"  asked  Ned. 

"And  you  haven't  even  started  your  big  gun  yet." 

"Oh,  I'll  show  you,"  declared  Tom.     "There 


THE  NEW  POWDER  75 

are  several  ways  of  making  a  test,  but  I  have  one 
of  my  own.  I  am  going  to  take  a  solid  block  of 
stee/,  df  known  weight — say  about  a  hundred 
pounds.  This  I  will  put  into  a  sort  of  square 
cylinder,  or  well,  closed  at  the  bottom  somewhat 
like  the  breech  of  a  gun.  The  block  of  steel  fits  so 
closely  in  the  square  well  that  no  air  or  powder 
gas  can  pass  it 

"In  the  bottom  of  this  well,  which  may  be  a 
foot  square,  I  will  put  a  small  charge  of  this  new 
powder.  On  top  of  that  will  come  the  steel  block. 
Then  by  means  of  electric  wires  I  can  fire  the 
charge. 

"Attached  to  the  steel  well,  or  chamber,  will  be 
a  gauge,  a  pressure  recorder  and  other  apparatus. 
When  the  powder,  of  which  I  will  use  only  a 
pinch,  carefully  weighing  it,  goes  off,  it  will  raise 
the  hundred-pound  weight  a  certain  distance. 
This  will  be  noted  on  the  scale.  There  will  also 
be  shown  the  amount  of  pressure  released  in  the 
gas  given  off  by  the  powder.  In  that  way  I  can 
make  some  calculations." 

"How  ?"  asked  Ned,  who  was  much  interested. 

"Well,  for  instance,  if  one  ounce  of  powder 
raises  the  weight  three  feet,  and  gives  a  muzzle 
pressure  of,  say,  five  hundred  pounds,  I  can  easily 
compute  what  a  thousand  pounds  of  powder,  act- 


y6         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON. 

ing  on  a  projectile  weighing  two  tons  and  a  half, 
would  do,  and  how  far  it  would  shoot  it." 

"Bless  my  differential  gear!"  cried  Mr.  Da- 
mon. "A  projectile  weighing  two  and  a  half 
tons!  Tom,  it's  impossible!" 

"'That's  what  General  Waller  said  about  his 
gun;  but  it  burst,  just  the  same,"  declared  Ned. 
"Poor  man,  I  felt  sorry  for  him.  He  seemed 
rather  put  out  at  you,  Tom." 

"I  guess  he  was — a  bit — though  I  didn't  mean 
anything  disrespectful  in  what  I  said.  But  now 
we'll  have  this  test.  Koku,  take  the  rest  of  this 
powder  back.  I'll  only  keep  a  small  quantity." 

The  giant,  who,  being  more  active  than  Eradi- 
cate, had  rather  supplanted  the  aged  colored  man, 
did  as  he  was  bid,  and  soon  Tom,  with  Ned  and 
Mr.  Damon  to  help  him,  was  preparing  for  the 
test. 

They  went  some  distance  away  from  any  of  the 
buildings,  for,  though  Tom  was  only  going  to  use 
a  small  quantity  of  the  explosive,  he  did  not  just 
know  what  the  result  would  be,  and  he  wanted  to 
take  no  chances. 

"I  know  from  personal  experience  what  the 
two  kinds  of  powder  from  which  I  made  this  sam- 
ple will  do,"  he  said;  "but  it  is  like  taking  two 
known  quantities  and  getting  a  third  unknown 
one  from  them.  There  is  an  unequal  force  be- 


THE  NEW  POWDER  77 

tween  the  two  samples  that  may  make  an  en- 
tirely new  compound." 

The  steel  chamber  that  was  to  receive  the  hun- 
dred-pound steel  block  had  been  prepared  in  ad- 
vance, as  had  the  various  gauges  and  registering 
apparatus. 

"Well,  I  guess  well  start  things  moving  now," 
went  on  Tom,  as  he  looked  over  the  things  he 
had  brought  from  his  shops  to  the  deserted 
meadow.  The  fact  of  the  test  had  been  kept  a 
secret,  so  there  were  no  spectators.  "Ned,  give 
me  a  hand  with  this  block"  Tom  went  on.  "It's 
a  little  too  heavy  to  lift  alone."  He  was  straining 
and  tugging  at  the  heavy  piece  of  steel. 

"Me  do!"  exclaimed  Koku  the  giant,  gently 
pushing  Tom  to  one  side.  Then  the  big  man, 
with  one  hand,  raised  the  hundred-pound  weight 
as  easily  as  if  it  were  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  de- 
posited it  where  Tom  wanted  it. 

"Thanks!"  exclaimed  our  hero,  with  a  laugh. 
"I  didn't  make  any  mistake  when  I  brought  you 
home  with  me,  Koku." 

"Huh!  I  could  hab  lifted  dat  weight  when  I 
was  a  young  feller!"  exclaimed  Eradicate,  who 
was,  it  is  needless  to  say,  jealous  of  the  giant 

The  powder  had  been  put  in  the  firing  chamber. 
The  steel  socket  had  been  firmly  fixed  in  tha 
earth,  so  that  if  the  force  of  the  explosion  was  in 


78         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

a  lateral  direction,  instead  of  straight  up,  no 
damage  would  result.  The  weight,  even  if  it 
shot  from  the  muzzle  of  the  improvised  "cannon," 
would  only  go  harmlessly  up  in  the  air,  and  then 
drop  back.  The  firing  wires  were  so  long  that 
Tom  and  his  friends  could  stand  some  distance 
away. 

"Are  you  all  ready?"  cried  Torn,  as  he  looked 
to  see  that  the  wiring  was  clear. 

"As  ready  as  we  ever  shall  be,"  replied  Mr. 
Damon,  who,  with  Ned  and  the  others,  had  taken 
refuge  behind  a  low  hill. 

"Oh,  this  isn't  going  to  be  much  of  an  explo- 
sion," laughed  Tom.  "It  won't  be  any  worse  than 
a  Fourth  of  July  cannon.  Here  she  goes!" 

He  pressed  the  electric  button,  there  was  a 
flash,  a  dull,  muffled  report  and,  for  a  moment, 
something  black  showed  at  the  top  of  the  steel 
chamber.  Then  it  dropped  back  inside  again. 

"Pshaw!"  cried  Tom,  in  disappointed  tones. 
"It  didn't  even  blow  the  weight  out  of  the  tube. 
That  powder's  no  good !  It's  a  failure !" 

Followed  by  the  others,  the  young  inventor 
started  toward  the  small  square  "cannon."  Tom 
wanted  to  read  the  records  made  by  the  gases. 

Suddenly  Koku  cried : 

"There  him  be,  master!    There  him  be!"  and 


THE  NEW  POWDER  79 

he  pointed  toward  a  distant  path  that  traversed 
the  meadow. 

"He?  Whom  do  you  mean?"  asked  Tom, 
startled  by  the  giant's  excited  manner. 

"That  man  what  come  and  look  at  Master's 
new  powder,"  was  the  unexpected  answer.  "Him 
say  he  want  to  surprise  you,  and  he  come  to-day, 
but  no  speak.  He  run  away.  Look — him  go!" 
and  he  pointed  toward  a  figure  of  distinctly  mili- 
tary bearing  hurrying  along  the  road  that  led  to 
Shopton. 


CHAPTER   X 

SOMETHING  WRONG 

"BLESS  my  buttons  !"cried  Mr.  Damon. 

"Let's  chase  after  him!"  yelled  Ned. 

"Koku  kin  run  de  fastest  ob  any  ob  us,"  put  in 
Eradicate.  "Let  him  go." 

"Hold  on — wait  a  minute!"  exclaimed  Tom. 
"We  want  to  know  who  that  man  is — and  why 
we're  going  to  chase  after  htm.  Koku,  I  guess 
it's  up  to  you.  Something  has  been  going  on  here 
that  I  don't  know  anything  about.  Explain !" 

"Well,  it's  no  use  to  chase  after  him  now,"  said 
Ned.  "There  he  goes  on  his  motor-cycle." 

As  he  spoke  the  man,  who,  even  from  a  rear 
view,  presented  all  the  characteristics  of  an  army 
man,  so  straight  was  his  carriage,  leaped  upon 
a  motor-cycle  that  he  pulled  from  the  roadside 
bushes,  and  soon  disappeared  in  a  cloud  of  dust 

"No,  he's  gone,"  spoke  Tom,  half-regretfully. 
"But  who  was  he,  Koku  ?  You  seemed  to  know 

80 


SOMETHING  WRONG  gi 

him.     What  was  he  doing  out  here,  watching 
my  test?" 

"Me  tell,"  said  the  giant,  simply.  "Little  whfle 
after  Master  come  back  from  where  him  say  big 
gun  all  go  smash,  man  come  to  shop  when  Master 
out  one  day.  Him  very  nice  man,  and  him  say 
him  know  you,  and  want  to  help  you  make  big 
cannon.  I  say,  'Master  no  be  at  home.'  Man 
say  him  want  to  give  master  a  little  present  of 
powder  for  use  in  new  cannon.  Master  be  much 
pleased,  man  say.  Make  powder  better.  I  take, 
and  I  want  Master  to  be  pleased.  I  put  stuff  what 
man  gave  me  in  new  powder.  Man  go  away — he 
laugh — he  say  he  be  here  to-day  see  what  happen 
— I  tell  him  you  go  to  make  test  to-day.  Man 
say  Master  be  much  surprised.  That  all  I  know." 

Silence  followed  Koku's  statement.  To  Ned 
and  Mr.  Damon  it  was  not  exactly  clear,  but  Tom 
better  understood  his  giant  servant's  queer  talk. 

"Is  that  what  you  mean,  Koku?"  asked  the 
young  inventor,  after  a  pause.  "Did  some  stran- 
ger come  here  one  day  when  I  was  out,  after  I 
had  made  my  new  powder,  and  did  he  give  you 
some  'dope'  to  put  in  it?" 

"What  you  mean  by  'dope'  ?" 

"I  mean  any  sort  of  stuff." 

"Yes,  man  give  me  something  like  sugar,  and 


g2         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

I  sprinkle  it  on  new  powder  for  to  surprise 
Master." 

"Well,  you've  done  it,  all  right,"  said  Tom,' 
grimly.  "Have  you  any  of  the  stuff  left  ?" 

"I  put  all  in  iron  box  where  Master  keep  new 
powder." 

"Well,  then  some  of  it  must  be  there  yet.' 
Probably  it  sifted  through  the  excelsior-like 
grains  of  my  new  explosive,  and  we'll  find  it  on 
the  bottom  of  the  powder-case.  But  enough 
stuck  to  the  strands  to  spoil  my  test  I'll  just  take 
a  reading  of  the  gauges,  and  then  we'll  make  an 
investigation." 

Tom,  with  Ned  to  help  him,  made  notes  of  how- 
far  the  weight  had  risen  in  the  tube,  and  took 
data  of  other  points  in  the  experiment 

"Pshaw!"  exclaimed  Tom.  "There  wasn't 
much  more  force  to  my  new  powder,  doped  as  it 
apparently  has  been,  than  to  the  stuff  I  can  buy  in 
the  open  market.  But  I'm  glad  I  know  what 
the  trouble  is,  for  I  can  remedy  it.  Come  on  back 
to  the  shop.  Koku,  don't  you  ever  do  anything 
like  this  again,"  and  Tom  spoke  severely. 

"No,  Master,"  answered  the  giant,  humbly. 

"Did  you  ever  see  this  man  before,  Koku?" 

"No,  Master." 

"What  kind  of  a  fellow  was  he  ?"  asked  Ned. 

"Oh,  him  got  whiskers  on  him  face,  and  stand 


SOMETHING  WRONG  83 

very  straight,  like  stick  bending  backwards. 
Him  look  like  a  soldier,  and  him  blink  one  eye 
more  than  the  other." 

Tom  and  Ned  started  and  looked  at  one 
another. 

"That  description  fits  General  Waller,"  said 
Ned,  in  a  low  voice  to  his  chum. 

"Yes,  in  a  way;  but  it  would  be  out  of  the 
question  for  the  General  to  do  such  a  thing.  Be- 
sides, the  man  who  ran  away,  and  escaped  on  his 
motor-cycle,  was  larger  than  General  Waller." 

"It  was  hard  to  tell  just  what  size  he  was  at 
the  distance,"  spoke  Ned.  "It  doesn't  seem  as 
though  he  would  try  to  spoil  your  experiments, 
though." 

"Maybe  he  hoped  to  spoil  my  cannon,"  re- 
marked Tom,  with  a  laugh  that  had  no  mirth  in 
it  "My  cannon  that  isn't  cast  yet  He  probably 
misunderstood  Koku's  story  of  the  test,  and  had 
no  idea  it  was  only  a  miniature,  experimental, 
gun. 

"This  will  have  to  be  looked  into.  I  can't  have 
strangers  prowling  about  here,  now  that  I  am 
going  to  get  to  work  on  a  new  invention.  Koku, 
I  expect  you,  after  this,  not  to  let  strangers  ap- 
proach unless  I  give  the  word.  Eradicate,  the 
same  thing  applies  to  you.  You  didn't  see  any- 
thing of  this  mysterious  man ;  did  you  ?" 


84         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"No,  Massa  Tom.  De  only  s'picious  man  I 
see  was  mah  own  cousin  sneakin'  around  mah 
chicken  coop  de  odder  night.  I  tooks  mah  ote 
shot  gun,  an*  sa'ntered  out  dat  way.  Den  in  a 
little  while  dere  wasn't  no  s'picious  man  any  mo'." 

"You  didn't  shoot  him;  did  you,  Rad?"  cried 
Tom,  quickly. 

"No,  Massa  Tom — dat  is,  I  didn't  shoot  on 
puppose  laik.  De  gun  jest  natchelly  went  off  by 
itself  accidental-laik,  an'  it  peppered  him  good 
an'  proper." 

"Why,  Rad!"  cried  Ned.  "You  didn't  tell  us 
about  this." 

"Well,  I  were  'shamed  ob  mah  cousin,  so  I 
was.  Anyhow,  I  only  had  salt  an'  pepper  in  de 
gun — 'stid  ob  shot.  I  'spect  mah  cousin  am  pretty 
well  seasoned  now.  But  dat's  de  only  s'picious 
folks  I  see,  'ceptin*  maybe  a  peddler  what  wanted 
t'  gib  me  a  dish  pan  fo'  a  pair  ob  ole  shoes ;  only 
I  didn't  hab  any." 

"There  are  altogether  too  many  strangers  com- 
ing about  here,"  went  on  Tom.  "It  must  be 
stopped,  if  I  have  to  string  charged  electric  wires 
about  the  shops  as  I  once  did." 

They  hurried  back  to  the  shop  where  the  new 
powder  was  kept,  and  Tom  at  once  investigated 
it  Taking  the  steel  box  from  where  it  was  stored 
he  carefully  removed  the  several  handfuls  of 


SOMETHING  WRONG  85 

excelsior-like  explosive.  On  the  bottom  of  the 
box,  and  with  some  of  it  clinging  to  some  of  the 
powder  threads,  was  a  sort  of  white  powder.  It 
had  a  peculiar  odor. 

"Ha!"  cried  Tom,  as  soon  as  he  saw  it  "I 
know  what  that  is.  It's  a  new  form  of  gun- 
cotton,  very  powerful.  Whoever  gave  it  to  Koku 
to  put  on  my  powder  hoped  to  blow  to  atoms  any 
cannon  in  which  it  might  be  used.  There's 
enough  here  to  do  a  lot  of  damage." 

"How  is  it  that  it  didn't  blow  your  test  cylin- 
der to  bits?"  asked  Ned. 

"For  the  reason  that  the  stuff  I  use  in  my  pow- 
der and  this  new  gun-cotton  neutralized  one 
another,"  the  young  inventor  explained.  "One 
weakened  the  other,  instead  of  making  a  stronger 
Combination.  A  chemical  change  took  place,  and 
Kicky  for  us  it  did.  It  was  just  like  a  man  taking 
fcn  over-dose  of  poison — it  defeated  itself.  That's 
why  my  experiment  was  a  failure.  Now  to  put 
this  stuff  where  it  can  do  no  harm.  Is  this  what 
lhat  man  gave  you,  Koku?" 

"That's  it,  Master." 

There  came  a  tap  on  the  door  of  the  private 
room,  and  instinctively  everyone  started.  Then 
came  the  voice  of  Eradicate,  saying: 

"Dere's  a  army  gen'men  out  here  to  see  you, 


86         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

Massa  Tom ;  but  I  ain't  gwine  t'  let  him  in  lessen 
as  how  you  says  so." 

"An  army  gentleman !"  repeated  Tom. 

"Yais,  sah !  He  say  he  General  Waller,  an'  he 
come  on  a  motor-cycle." 

"General  Waller!"  exclaimed  Tom.  "What 
can  he  want  out  here?" 

"And  on  a  motor-cycle,  too!"  added  Ned. 
"Tom,  what's  going  on,  anyhow?" 

The  young  inventor  shook  his  head. 

"I  don't  know,"  he  replied;  "but  I  suppose  I 
had  better  see  him.  Here,  Koku,  put  this  powder 
away,  and  then  go  outside.  Mr.  Damon,  you'll 
stay;  won't  you?" 

"If  you  need  me,  Tom.  Bless  my  finger  nails! 
But  there  seems  to  be  something  wrong  here." 

"Show  him  in,  Rad!"  called  Tom. 

"Massa  Gen'l  Herodotus  Waller!"  exclaimed 
the  colored  man  in  pompous  tones,  as  he  opened 
the  door  for  the  officer,  clad  in  khaki,  whom  Tom 
had  last  seen  at  Sandy  Hook. 

"Ah,  how  do  you  do,  Mr.  Swift!"  exclaimed 
General  Waller,  extending  his  hand.  "I  got  your 
letter  inviting  me  to  a  test  of  your  new  explosive. 
I  hope  I  am  not  too  late." 

Tom  stared  at  him  in  amazement. 


CHAPTER   XI 

FAILURE  AND  SUCCESS 

"You — you  got  my  letter!"  stammered  Tom, 
-folding  out  his  hand  for  a  missive  which  the 
General  extended.  "I — I  don't  exactly  under- 
stand. My  letter?" 

"Yes,  certainly,"  went  on  the  officer.  "It  was 
Very  kind  of  you  to  remember  me  after — well, 
to  be  perfectly  frank  with  you,  I  did  resent,  a 
little,  your  remarks  about  my  unfortunate  gun. 
But  I  see  you  are  of  a  forgiving  spirit." 

"But  I  didn't  write  you  any  letter !"  exclaimed 
Tom,  feeling  more  and  more  puzzled. 

"You  did  not?  What  is  this?"  and  the  Gen- 
eral unfolded  a  paper.  Tom  glanced  over  it 
Plainly  it  was  a  request  for  the  General  to  be 
present  at  the  test  on  that  day,  and  it  was  signed 
with  Tom  Swift's  name. 

But  as  soon  as  the  young  inventor  saw  it,  he 
knew  that  it  was  a  forgery. 

"I  never  sent  that  letter !"  he  exclaimed.  "Look, 
87 


88         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

it  is  not  at  all  like  my  handwriting,"  and  he 
took  up  some  papers  from  a  near-by  table  and 
quickly  compared  some  of  his  writing  with  that 
in  the  letter.  The  difference  was  obvious. 

"Then  who  did  send  it?"  asked  General  Waller. 
"If  someone  has  been  playing  a  joke  on  me  it  will 
not  be  well  for  him!"  and  he  drew  himself  up 
pompously. 

"If  a  joke  has  been  played — and  it  certainly 
seems  so,"  spoke  Tom,  "I  had  no  hand  in  it 
And  did  you  come  all  the  way  from  Sandy  Hook 
because  of  this  letter?" 

"No,  I  am  visiting  friends  in  Waterford." 
said  the  officer,  naming  the  town  where  Mr. 
Damon  lived.  "My  cousin  is  Mr.  Pierce 
Watkins." 

"Bless  my  doorbell!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Damon, 
"I  know  him!  He  lives  just  around  the  corner 
from  me.  Bless  my  very  thumb  prints!" 

General  Waller  stared  at  Mr.  Damon  in  some 
amazement,  and  resumed : 

"Owing  to  the  unfortunate  accident  to  my  gun, 
and  to  some  slight  injuries  I  sustained,  I  found 
my  health  somewhat  impaired.  I  obtained  a 
furlough,  and  came  to  visit  my  cousin.  The  doc- 
tor recommended  open  air  exercise,  and  so  I 
brought  with  me  my  motor-cycle,  as  I  am  fond 
of  that  means  of  locomotion." 


FAILURE  AND  SUCCESS  89 

"I  used  to  be,"  murmured  Mr.  Damon;  "but 
I  gave  it  up." 

"After  his  machine  climbed  a  tree,"  Tom  ex- 
plained, with  a  smile,  remembering  how  he  had 
originally  met  Mr.  Damon,  and  bought  the  dam- 
aged machine  from  him,  as  told  in  the  first  volume 
of  this  series. 

"So,  when  I  got  your  letter,"  continued  the 
General,  "I  naturally  jumped  on  my  machine  and 
came  over.  Now  I  find  that  it  is  all  a  hoax." 

"I  am  very  sorry,  I  assure  you,"  said  Tom. 
"We  did  have  a  sort  of  test  to-day;  but  it  was 
a  failure,  owing  to  the  fact  that  someone  tam- 
pered with  my  powder.  From  what  you  tell  me, 
I  am  inclined  to  the  belief  that  the  same  person 
may  have  sent  you  that  letter.  Let  me  look  at 
it  again,"  he  requested. 

Carefully  he  scanned  it. 

"I  should  say  that  was  written  in  a  sort  of 
German  hand ;  would  you  not  also  ?"  he  asked  of 
Mr.  Damon. 

"I  would,  Tom." 

"A  German!"  exclaimed  General  Waller. 

At  the  mention  of  the  word  "German"  Koku, 
the  giant,  who  had  entered  the  room,  to  be  stared 
at  in  amazement  by  the  officer,  exclaimed: 

"That  he,  Master!    That  he!" 

"What  do  you  mean?"  inquired  Tom. 


90         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"German  man  give  me  stuff  for  to  put  in  your 
powder.  I  'member  now,  he  talk  like  Hans  who 
make  our  garden  here;  and  he  say  'yah'  just  the 
same  like.  That  man  German  sure." 

"What  does  this  mean?"  inquired  the  officert 

Quickly  Tom  told  of  the  visit  of  an  unknown 
man  who  had  prevailed  on  the  simple-minded 
giant  to  "dope"  Tom's  new  powder  under  the 
impression  that  he  was  doing  his  master  a  favor. 
Then  the  flight  of  the  spy  on  a  motor-cycle,  just 
as  the  experiment  failed,  was  related. 

"We  have  a  German  gardener,"  went  on  Tom, 
"and  Koku  now  recalls  that  our  mysterious  vis- 
itor had  the  same  sort  of  speech,  This  ought  to 
give  us  a  clue." 

"Let  me  see,"  murmured  General  Waller.  "In 
the  first  place  your  test  fails — you  learn,  then,  that 
your  powder  has  been  tampered  with — you  see 
a  man  riding  away  in  haste  after  having,  in  all 
likelihood,  spied  on  your  work — your  giant  ser- 
vant recalls  the  visit  of  a  mysterious  man,  and> 
when  the  word  'German*  is  pronounced  in  hid 
hearing  he  recalls  that  his  visitor  was  of  that 
nationality.  So  far  so  good. 

"I  come  to  this  vicinity  for  my  health.  That 
fact,  as  are  all  such  regarding  officers,  was  doubt- 
less published  in  the  Army  and  Navy  Journal,  so 
it  might  easily  become  known  to  almost  anyone. 


FAILURE  AND  SUCCESS  91 

I  receive  a  letter  which  I  think  is  from  Tom 
Swift,  asking  me  to  attend  the  test.  As  the  dis- 
tance is  short  I  go,  only  to  find  that  the  letter 
has  been  forged,  presumably  by  a  German. 

"Question :  Can  the  same  German  be  the  agent 
in  both  cases  ?" 

"Bless  my  arithmetic!  how  concisely  you  put 
it!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Damon. 

"It  is  part  of  my  training,  I  suppose,"  re- 
marked the  officer.  "But  it  strikes  me  that  if  we 
find  your  German  spy,  Tom,  we  will  find  the  man 
who  played  the  joke  on  me.  And  if  I  do  find  him 
—well,  I  think  I  shall  know  how  to  deal  with 
him,"  and  General  Waller  assumed  his  char- 
acteristic haughty  attitude. 

"I  believe  you  are  right,  General,"  spoke  Tom. 
"Though  why  any  German  would  want  to  pre- 
vent my  experiments,  or  even  damage  my  projv- 
erty,  and  possibly  injure  my  friends,  I  cannot 
understand." 

"Nor  can  I,"  spoke  the  officer. 

"I  am  sorry  you  have  had  your  trouble  for 
nothing,"  went  on  Tom.  "And,  if  you  are  in 
this  vicinity  when  I  conduct  my  next  test,  I  shall 
be  glad  to  have  you  come.  I  will  send  word  by 
Mr.  Damon,  and  then  there  will  be  no  chanca  of 
ft  mistake." 

"Thank  you,  Tom,  I  shall  be  glad  to  come.     J 


92         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

do  not  know  how  long  I  shall  remain  in  this 
vicinity.  If  I  knew  where  to  look  for  the  Ger- 
man I  would  make  a  careful  search.  As  it  is, 
I  shall  turn  this  letter  over  to  the  United  States 
Secret  Service,  and  see  what  its  agents  can  do. 
And,  Tom,  if  you  are  annoyed  again,  let  mo 
know.  You  are  a  sort  of  rival,  so  to  speak,  but, 
after  all,  we  are  both  working  to  serve  Uncle 
Sam.  I'll  do  my  best  to  protect  you." 

"Thank  you,  sir,"  replied  Tom.  "On  my  part, 
I  shall  keep  a  good  lookout.  It  will  be  a  bold  spy 
who  gets  near  my  shop  after  this.  I'm  going  to 
put  up  my  highly-charged  protecting  electric 
wires  again.  We  were  just  talking  about  them 
when  you  came  in.  Would  you  like  to  look  about 
here,  General?" 

"I  would,  indeed,  Tom,  Have  you  made  your 
big  gun  yet?" 

"No,  but  I  am  working  on  the  plans.  I  want 
first  to  decide  on  the  kind  of  explosive  I  am  to 
use,  so  I  can  make  my  gun  strong  enough  to 
stand  it." 

"A  wise  idea,  I  think  there  is  where  I  made 
my  mistake.  I  did  not  figure  carefully  enough  on 
the  strength  of  material.  The  internal  pressure 
of  the  powder  I  used,  as  well  as  the  muzzle  vel- 
ocity of  my  projectile,  were  both  greater  than 
they  should  have  been.  Take  a  lesson  from  my 


FAILURE  AND  SUCCESS  93 

failure.  But  I  am  going  to  start  on  another  gun 
soon,  and — Tom  Swift — I  am  going  to  try  to 
beat  you!" 

"All  right,  General,"  answered  Tom,  genially. 
"May  the  best  gun  win!" 

"Bless  my  powder  box!"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 
"That's  the  way  to  talk." 

General  Waller  was  much  interested  in  going 
about  Tom's  shop,  and  expressed  his  surprise  at 
the  many  inventions  he  saw.  While  ordnance 
matters,  big  guns  and  high  explosives  were  his 
hobby,  nevertheless  the  airships  were  a  source  of 
wonder  to  him. 

"How  do  you  do  it,  Tom  ?"  he  asked. 

"Oh,  by  keeping  at  it,"  was  the  modest  an- 
swer. "Then  my  good  friends  here — Ned  and 
Mr.  Damon — help  me." 

"Bless  my  check  book!"  exclaimed  the  odd  gen- 
tleman. "It  is  very  little  help  I  give,  Tom." 

General  Waller  soon  took  his  departure,  prom- 
ising to  call  again,  to  see  Tom's  test  if  one  were 
held.  He  also  repeated  his  determination  to  set 
the  Secret  Service  men  at  work  to  discover  the 
mysterious  German. 

"I  can't  imagine  who  would  want  to  injure  you 
or  me,  Tom  Swift,"  he  said. 

"Do  you  think  they  wanted  to  injure  you, 
General?"  asked  Mr.  Damon. 


94         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"It  would  seem  so,"  remarked  Ned.  "That 
man  doped  Tom's  powder,  hoping  to  make  it  so 
powerful  that  it  would  blow  up  everything.  Then 
he  sends  word  to  the  General  to  be  present.  If 
there  had  been  a  blow-up  he  would  have  gone 
with  it" 

"Bless  my  gaiters,  yes!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Damon. 

"Well,  we'll  see  if  we  can  ferret  him  out!" 
spoke  the  officer  as  he  took  his  leave. 

Tom,  Ned  and  the  others  talked  the  matter 
over  at  some  length. 

"I  wonder  if  we  could  trace  that  man  who 
rode  away  on  the  motor-cycle  ?"  said  Ned. 

"We'll  try,"  decided  Tom,  energetically,  and 
in  the  electric  runabout,  that  had  once  performed 
such  a  service  to  his  father's  bank,  the  young  in- 
ventor and  his  chum  were  soon  traversing  the 
road  taken  by  the  spy.  They  got  some  traces  of 
him — that  is,  several  persons  had  seen  him  pass — 
but  that  was  all.  So  they  had  to  record  one 
failure  at  least. 

"I  wonder  if  the  General  himself  could  have 
sent  that  letter?"  mused  Ned,  as  they  returned 
home. 

"What!  To  himself?"  cried  Tom,  in  amaze- 
ment. 

"He  might  have,"  went  on  Ned,  coolly.    "You 


FAILURE  AND  SUCCESS  95 

see,  Tom,  he  admits  that  he  was  jealous  of  you. 
Now  what  is  there  to  prevent  him  from  hiring 
someone  to  dope  your  powder,  and  then,  to  divert 
suspicion  from  himself,  faking  up  a  letter  and 
inviting  himself  to  the  blowout." 

"But  if  he  did  that — which  I  don't  believe — 
why  would  he  come  when  there  was  danger,  in 
case  his  trick  worked,  of  the  whole  place  being 
blown  to  kingdom  come?" 

"Ah,  but  you  notice  he  didn't  arrive  until  after 
danger  of  an  explosion  had  passed,"  commented 
Ned. 

"Oh,  pshaw !"  cried  Tom.  "I  don't  take  any 
stock  in  that  theory." 

"Well,  maybe  not,"  replied  Ned.  "But  it's 
worth  thinking  about.  I  believe  if  General  Waller 
could  prevent  you  from  inventing  your  big  gun, 
he  would." 

The  days  that  followed  were  busy  ones  for 
Tom.  He  worked  on  the  powder  problem  from 
morning  to  night,  scoring  many  failures  and  only 
a  few  successes.  But  he  did  not  give  up,  and  in 
the  meanwhile  drew  tentative  plans  for  the  big 
gun. 

One  evening,  after  a  hard  day's  work,  he  went 
to  the  library  where  his  father  was  reading. 

"Tom,"  said  Mr.  Swift,  ''do  you  remember 


96         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

that   old    fortune   hunter,    Alec    Peterson,    who 
wanted  me  to  go  into  that  opal  mine  scheme?" 

"Yes,  Dad.  What  about  him?  Has  he  found 
it?" 

"No,  he  writes  to  say  he  reached  the  island 
safely,  and  has  been  working  some  time.  He 
hasn't  had  any  success  yet  in  locating  the  mine; 
but  he  hopes  to  find  it  in  a  week  or  so." 

"That's  just  like  him,"  murmured  Tom. 
"Well,  Dad,  if  you  lose  the  ten  thousand  dollars 
I  guess  I'll  have  to  make  it  up  to  you,  for  it  was 
on  my  account  that  you  made  the  investment" 

"Well,  you're  worth  it,  Tom,"  replied  his 
father,  with  a  smile. 


CHAPTER   XII 

A  POWERFUL  BLAST 

"LooK  out  with  that  box,  Koku !  Handle  it  as 
though  it  contained  a  dozen  eggs  of  the  extinct 
great  auk,  worth  about  a  thousand  dollars  apiece. 

"Eradicate!  Don't  you  dare  stumble  while 
you're  carrying  that  tube.  If  you  do,  you'll 
never  do  it  again  P 

"By  golly,  Massa  Tom !  I — I's  gwine  t'  walk 
on  mah  tiptoes  all  de  way !" 

Thus  Eradicate  answered  the  young  inventor, 
while  the  giant  Koku,  who  was  carrying  a  heavy 
case,  nodded  his  head  to  show  that  he  understood 
the  danger  of  his  task. 

"So  you  think  you've  got  the  right  stuff  this 
time,  Tom?"  asked  Ned  Newton. 

"I'm  allowing  myself  to  hope  so,  Ned." 

"Bless  my  woodpile!"  cried  Mr.  Damon.  "I — 
I  really  think  I'm  getting  nervous." 

It  was  one  afternoon,  about  two  weeks  after 
Tom  had  made  his  first  test  of  the  new  powder. 

<J7 


98         TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

Now,  after  much  hard  work,  and  following  many 
other  tests,  some  of  which  were  more  or  less 
successful,  he  had  reached  the  point  where  he  be- 
lieved he  was  on  the  threshold  of  success.  He 
had  succeeded  in  makng  a  new  explosive  that, 
in  the  preliminary  tests,  in  which  only  a  small 
quantity  was  used,  gave  promise  of  being  more 
powerful  than  any  Tom  had  ever  experimented 
with — his  own  or  the  product  of  some  other 
inventor. 

And  his  experiments  had  not  always  been 
harmless.  Once  he  came  within  a  narrow  margin 
of  blowing  up  the  shop  and  himself  with  it,  and 
on  another  occasion  some  of  the  slow-burning' 
powder,  failing  to  explode,  had  set  ablaze  a  shack 
in  which  he  was  working. 

Only  for  the  prompt  action  of  Koku,  Tom 
might  have  been  seriously  injured.  As  it  was  he 
lost  some  valuable  patterns  and  papers. 

But  he  had  gone  on  his  way,  surmounting  fail- 
ure after  failure,  until  now  he  was  ready  for  the 
supreme  test.  This  was  to  be  the  explosion  of  a 
large  quantity  of  the  powder  in  a  specially  pre- 
pared steel  tube  of  great  thickness.  It  was  like  a 
miniature  cannon,  but,  unlike  the  first  small  one, 
where  the  test  had  failed,  this  one  would  carry  a 
special  projectile,  that  would  be  aimed  at  an 
armor  plate  set  up  on  a  big  hill. 


A  POWERFUL  BLAST  99 

Tom's  hope  was  that  this  big  blast  would  show 
such  pressure  in  foot-tons,  and  give  such  muzzle 
velocity  to  the  projectile,  and  at  the  same  time 
such  penetrating  power,  that  he  would  be  justi- 
fied in  taking  it  as  the  basis  of  his  explosive,  and 
using  it  in  the  big  gun  he  intended  to  make. 

The  preliminaries  had  been  completed.  The 
special  steel  tube  had  been  constructed,  and 
mounted  on  a  heavy  carriage  in  a  distant  part  of 
the  Swift  grounds.  A  section  of  armor  plate, 
a  foot  and  a  half  in  thickness,  had  been  set  up  at 
the  proper  distance.  A  new  projectile,  with  a 
hard,  penetrating  point,  had  been  made — a  sort 
of  miniature  of  the  one  Tom  hoped  to  use  in  his 
giant  cannon. 

Now  the  young  inventor  and  his  friends  were 
on  their  way  to  the  scene  of  the  test,  taking  the 
powder  and  other  necessaries,  including  the 
primers,  with  them.  Tom,  Ned  and  Mr.  Damon 
had  some  of  the  gauges  to  register  the  energy 
expended  by  the  improvised  cannon.  There  were 
charts  to  be  filled  in,  and  other  details  to  be  looked 
after. 

"So  General  Waller  won't  be  here?"  remarked 
Ned,  as  they  walked  along,  Tom  keeping  a  watch- 
ful eye  on  Koku. 

"No,"  was  the  reply.  "He  has  gone  back  to 
Sandy  Hook.  He  wrote  that  his  health  was  bet- 


100       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

ter,  and  that  he  wanted  to  resume  work  on  a  new 
type  of  gun." 

"I  guess  he's  afraid  you'll  beat  him  out,  Tom/' 
laughed  Ned.  "You  take  my  advice,  and  look 
out  for  General  Waller." 

"Nonsense !  I  say,  Rad !  Look  out  with  those 
primers !" 

"I'se  lookin'  out,  Massa  Tom.  Golly,  I  don't 
laik  dis  yeah  job  at  all !  I — I  guess  I'd  better  be 
gittin'  at  dat  whitewashing  Massa  Tom.  Dat 
back  fence  suah  needs  a  coat  mighty  bad." 

"Never  you  mind  about  the  whitewashing, 
Rad.  You  just  stick  around  here  for  a  while.  I 
may  need  you  to  sit  on  the  cannon  to  hold  it 
down." 

"Sit  on  a  cannon,  Massa  Tom!  Say,  looky 
heah  now!  You  jest  take  dese  primary  things 
from  dish  yeah  coon.  I — I'se  got  t'  go !" 

"Why,  what's  the  matter,  Rad?  Surely  you're 
not  afraid;  are  you?"  and  Tom  winked  at  Ned. 

"No,  Massa  Tom,  I'se  not  prezactly  'skeered, 
but  I  done  jest  'membered  dat  I  didn't  gib  mah 
mule  Boomerang  any  oats  t'-day,  an'  he's  suahly 
gwine  t'  be  desprit  mad  at  me  fo*  forgettin'  dat. 
I — I'd  better  go !" 

"Nonsense,  Rad!  I  was  only  fooling.  You 
can  go  as  soon  as  we  get  to  my  private  proving 
grounds,  if  you  like.  But  you'll  have  to  carry 


A  POWERFUL  BLAST 

those  primers,  for  all  the  rest  of  us  have  our 
hands  full.  Only  be  careful  of  'em!" 

"I— I  will,  Massa  Tom." 

They  kept  on,  and  it  was  noticed  that  Mr. 
Damon  gave  nervous  glances  from  time  to  time  in 
the  direction  of  Koku,  who  was  carrying  the  box 
of  powder.  The  giant  himself,  however,  did 
not  seem  to  know  the  meaning  of  fear.  He  car- 
ried the  box,  which  contained  enough  explosive 
to  blow  them  all  into  fragments,  with  as  much 
composure  as  though  it  contained  loaves  of 
bread. 

"Now  you  can  go,  Rad,"  annoumced  Tom, 
when  they  reached  the  lonely  field  where,  point- 
ing toward  a  big  hill,  was  the  little  cannon. 

"Good,  Massa  Tom!"  cried  the  colored  man, 
and  from  the  way  in  which  he  hurried  off  no 
one  would  ever  suspect  him  of  having  rheumatic 
joints. 

"Say,  that  stuff  looks  just  like  Swiss  cheese," 
remarked  Ned,  as  Tom  opened  the  box  of  ex- 
plosive. It  would  be  incorrect  to  call  it  powder, 
for  it  had  no  more  the  appearance  of  gunpowder, 
or  any  other  "powder,"  than,  as  Ned  said,  Swiss 
cheese. 

And,  indeed,  the  powerful  stuff  bore  a  decided 
resemblance  to  that  peculiar  product  of  the  dairy. 


102        TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

It  was  in  thin  sheets,  with  holes  pierced  through 
it  here  and  there,  irregularly. 

"The  idea  is,"  Tom  explained,  "to  make  a 
quick-burning  explosive.  I  want  the  concussion 
to  be  scattered  through  it  all  at  once.  It  is  set 
off  by  concussion,  you  see,"  he  went  on,  "A 
sort  of  cartridge  is  buried  in  the  middle  of  it, 
after  it  has  been  inserted  in  the  cannon  breech. 
The  cartridge  is  exploded  by  a  primer,  which 
responds  to  an  electric  current.  The  thin  plates, 
.vith  holes  corresponding  to  the  centre  hole  in  a 
big  grain  of  the  hexagonal  powder,  will,  I  hope, 
cause  the  stuff  to  burn  quickly,  and  give  a  tre- 
mendous pressure.  Now  we'll  put  some  in  the 
steel  tube,  and  see  what  happens." 

Even  Tom  was  a  little  nervous  as  he  prepared 
for  this  latest  test.  But  he  was  not  nervous 
enough  to  drop  any  of  those  queer,  cheese-like 
slabs.  For,  though  he  knew  that  a  considerable 
percussion  was  needed  to  set  them  off,  it  would 
not  do  to  take  chances.  High  explosives  do  not 
always  act  alike,  even  under  the  same  given  condi- 
tions. What  might  with  perfect  safety  be  done 
at  one  time,  could  not  be  repeated  at  another. 
Tom  knew  this,  and  was  very  careful. 

The  powder,  as  I  shall  occasionally  call  it  for 
the  sake  of  convenience,  though  it  was  not  such 
in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word — the  powder  was 


A  POWERFUL  BLAST  103 

put  in  the  small  cannon,  together  with  the  primer. 
Then  the  wires  were  attached  to  it,  and  extended 
off  for  some  distance. 

"But  we  won't  attach  the  battery  until  the  last 
moment,"  Tom  said.  "I  don't  want  a  premature 
explosion." 

The  projectile  was  also  put  in,  and  Tom  once 
more  looked  to  see  that  the  armor  plate  was  in 
place.  Then  he  adjusted  the  various  gauges  to 
get  readings  of  the  power  and  energy  created  by 
his  new  explosive. 

"Well,  I  guess  we're  all  ready,"  he  announced 
to  his  friends.  "I'll  hook  on  the  battery  now,  and 
we'll  get  off  behind  that  other  hill.  I  had  Koku 
make  a  sort  of  cave  there — a  miniature  bomb- 
proof, that  will  shelter  us." 

"Do  you  think  the  blast  will  be  powerful 
enough  to  make  it  necessary  ?"  asked  Mr.  Damon. 

"It  will,  if  this  larger  quantity  of  explosive 
acts  anything  like  the  small  samples  I  set  off," 
replied  the  young  inventor. 

The  electric  wires  were  carried  behind  the  pro- 
tecting hill,  whither  they  all  retired. 

"Here  she  goes!"  exclaimed  Tom,  after  a 
pause. 

His  thumb  pressed  the  electric  button,  and  in- 
stantly the  ground  shook  with  the  tremor  of  a 
mighty  blast,  while  a  deafening  sou***  roared 


104       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

about  them.    The  earth  trembled,  and  there  was 
a  big  sheet  of  flame,  seen  even  in  the  powerful 


sunlight. 


"Something  happened,  anyhow!"  yelled  Tom 
above  the  reverberating  echoes. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

CASTING  THE  CANNON 

"COME  on!"  yelled  Ned.  "We'll  see  how  this 
experiment  came  out !"  and  he  started  to  run  trom 
beneath  the  shelter  of  the  hill. 

"Hold  on !"  shouted  Tom,  laying  a  restraining 
hand  on  his  chum's  shoulder. 

"Why,  what's  the  matter?"  asked  Ned  in 
surprise. 

"Some  of  that  powder  may  not  have  ex- 
ploded," went  on  the  young  inventor.  "From  the 
sound  made  I  should  say  the  gun  burst,  and,  if  it 
did,  that  gelatin  is  bound  to  be  scattered  about 
There  may  be  a  mass  of  it  burning  loose  some- 
where, and  it  may  go  off.  It  ought  not  to,  if  my 
theory  about  it  being  harmless  in  the  open  is  cor- 
rect, but  the  trouble  is  that  it's  only  a  theory. 
Wait  a  few  seconds." 

Anxiously  they  lingered,  the  echoes  of  the 
blast  still  in  their  ears,  and  a  peculiar  smell  in 
their  nostrils. 

105 


I06       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"But  there's  no  smoke,"  said  Mr.  Damon, 
"Bless  my  spyglass !  I  always  thought  there  was 
smoke  at  an  explosion." 

"This  is  a  sort  of  smokeless  powder,"  ex- 
plained Tom.  "It  throws  off  a  slight  vapor  when 
it  is  ignited,  but  not  much.  I  guess  it's  safe  to 
go  out  now.  Come  on !" 

He  dropped  the  pushbutton  connected  with  the 
igniting  battery,  and,  followed  by  the  others, 
raced  to  the  scene  of  the  experiment.  A  curious 
sight  met  their  eyes. 

A  great  hole  had  been  torn  in  the  hillside,  and 
another  where  the  improvised  gun  had  stood. 
The  gun  itself  seemed  to  have  disappeared. 

"Why — why — where  is  it?"  asked  Ned. 

"Burst  to  pieces  I  guess,"  replied  Tom.  "I 
was  afraid  that  charge  was  a  bit  too  heavy." 

"No,  here  it  is!"  shouted  Mr.  Damon,  circling 
off  to  one  side.  "It's  been  torn  from  the  carriage, 
and  partly  buried  in  the  ground,"  and  he  indi- 
cated a  third  excavation  in  the  earth. 

It  was  as  he  had  said.  The  terrific  blast  had 
sheared  the  gun  from  its  temporary  carriage, 
thrown  it  into  the  air,  and  it  had  come  down  to 
bury  itself  in  the  soft  ground.  The  carriage  had 
torn  loose  from  the  concrete  base,  and  was  tossed 
off  in  another  direction. 

"Is  the  gun  shattered?"  asked  Tom,  anxious  to 


CASTING  THE  CANNON  ip? 

know  how  the  weapon  had  fared.  It  was,  in  a 
sense,  a  sort  of  small  model  of  the  giant  cannon 
he  intended  to  have  cast. 

"The  breech  is  cracked  a  little,"  answered  Mr. 
Damon,  who  was  examining  it ;  "but  otherwise  it 
doesn't  seem  to  be  much  damaged." 

"Good!"  cried  Tom.  "Another  steel  jacket 
will  remedy  that  defect.  I  guess  I'm  on  the  right 
road  at  last.  But  now  to  see  what  became  of  that 
armor  plate." 

"Dinner  plate  not  here,"  spoke  Koku,  who 
could  not  understand  how  there  could  be  two 
kind  of  plates  in  the  world.  "Dinner  plate  gone, 
but  big  hole  here,"  and  he  indicated  one  in  the 
side  of  the  hill. 

"I  expect  that  is  where  the  armor  plate  is,"  said 
Tom,  trying  not  to  laugh  at  the  mistake  of  his 
giant  servant.  "Take  a  look  in  there,  Koku,  and, 
if  you  can  get  hold  of  it,  pull  it  out  for  us.  I'm 
afraid  the  piece  of  nickel-steel  armor  proved  too 
much  for  my  projectile.  But  we'll  have  a  look." 

Koku  disappeared  into  the  miniature  cave  that 
had  been  torn  in  the  side  of  the  hill.  It  was 
barely  large  enough  to  allow  him  to  go  in.  But 
Tom  knew  none  other  of  them  could  hope  to 
loosen  the  piece  of  steel,  imbedded  as  it  must  be  in 
the  solid  earth. 

Presently    they    heard    Koku    grunting    and 


I08       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

groaning.  He  seemed  to  be  having  quite  a 
struggle. 

"Can  you  get  it,  Koku?"  asked  Tom.  "O 
shall  I  send  for  picks  and  shovels." 

"Me  get,  Master,"  was  the  muffled  answer. 

Then  came  a  shout,  as  though  in  anger  Koku 
had  dared  the  buried  plate  to  defy  him.  There 
was  a  shower  of  earth  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave, 
and  the  giant  staggered  out  with  the  heavy  piece 
of  armor  plate.  At  the  sight  of  it  Tom  uttered 
a  cry. 

"Look!"  he  shouted.  "My  projectile  went 
part  way  through  and  then  carried  the  plate  with 
it  into  the  side  of  the  hill.  Talk  about  a  power- 
ful explosive!  I've  struck  it,  all  right!" 

It  was  as  he  had  said.  The  projectile,  driven 
with  almost  irresistible  force,  had  bitten  its  way 
through  the  armor  plate,  but  a  projection  at  the 
base  of  the  shell  had  prevented  it  from  completely 
passing  through.  Then,  with  the  energy  almost 
unabated,  the  projectile  had  torn  the  plate  loose 
and  hurled  it,  together  with  its  own  body,  into 
the  solid  earth  of  the  hillside.  There,  as  Koku 
held  them  up,  they  could  all  see  the  shell  imbedded 
in  the  plate,  the  point  sticking  out  on  the  other 
side,  as  a  boy  might  spear  an  apple  with  a  sharp 
stick. 


CASTING  THE  CANNON  109 

"Bless  my  spectacle  case!"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 
"This  is  the  greatest  ever!" 

"It  sure  is,"  agreed  Ned.  "Tom,  my  boy,  ! 
guess  you  can  now  make  the  longest  shots  on 
record." 

"I  can  as  soon  as  I  get  my  giant  cannon,  per- 
haps," admitted  the  young  inventor.  "I  think  I 
have  solved  the  problem  of  the  explosive.  Now 
to  work  on  the  cannon." 

An  examination  of  the  gauges,  which,  being  at* 
tached  to  the  cannon  and  plate  by  electric  wires, 
were  not  damaged  when  the  blast  came,  showed 
that  Tom's  wildest  hopes  ha^  beep  confirmed. 
He  had  the  most  powerful  explosive  ever  made — 
or  at  least  as  far  as  he  had  any  knowledge,  and 
he  had  had  samples  of  all  the  best  makes. 

Concerning  Tom's  powder,  or  explosive,  I  will) 
only  say  that  he  kept  the  formula  of  it  secret  from 
all  save  his  father.  All  that  he  would  admit,, 
when  the  government  experts  asked  him  about  it. 
later,  was  that  the  base  was  not  nitro-glyceriner 
but  that  this  entered  into  it.  He  agreed,  how- 
ever, in  case  his  gun  was  accepted  by  the  govern- 
ment, to  disclose  the  secret  to  the  ordnance- 
officers. 

But  Tom's  work  was  only  half  done.  It  was 
one  thing  to  have  a  powerful  explosive,  but  there 
must  be  some  means  of  utilizing  it  safely — some 


HO       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

cannon  in  which  it  could  be  fired  to  send  a  projec- 
tile farther  than  any  cannon  had  ever  sent  one. 
And  to  do  this  much  work  was  necessary. 

Tom  figured  and  planned,  far  into  the  night, 
for  many  weeks  after  that.  He  had  to  begin  all 
over  again,  working  from  the  basis  of  the  power 
of  his  new  explosive.  And  he  had  many  new 
problems  to  figure  out. 

But  finally  he  had  constructed — on  paper — a 
gun  that  was  to  his  liking.  The  most  exhaustive 
figuring  proved  that  it  had  a  margin  of  safety 
that  would  obviate  all  danger  of  its  bursting, 
even  with  an  accidental  over-charge. 

"And  the  next  thing  is  to  get  the  gun  cast," 
said  Tom  to  Ned  one  day. 

"Are  you  going  to  do  it  in  your  shops?"  his 
chum  asked. 

"No;  it  would  be  out  of  the  question  for  mo 
I  haven't  the  facilities.  I'm  going  to  give  the  con- 
tract to  the  Universal  Steel  Company.  We'll  pay 
them  a  visit  in  a  day  or  two." 

But  even  the  great  facilities  of  the  steel  corpo- 
ration proved  almost  inadequate  for  Tom's  giant 
cannon.  When  he  showed  the  drawings,  on 
which  he  had  already  secured  a  patent,  the 
manager  balked. 

"We  can't  cast  that  gun  here !"  he  said. 


CASTING  THE  CANNON  m 

"Oh,  yes,  you  can!"  declared  Tom,  who  had 
inspected  the  plant.  "I'll  show  you  how." 

"Why,  we  haven't  a  mould  big  enough  for  the 
central  core,"  was  another  objection. 

"Then  we'll  make  one,"  declared  Tom.  "We'll 
dig  a  pit  in  the  earth,  and  after  it  is  properly  lined 
we  can  make  the  cast  there." 

"I  never  thought  of  that !"  exclaimed  the  man- 
ager. "Perhaps  it  can  be  done." 

"Of  course  it  can!"  cried  Tom.  "Do  you 
think  you  can  shrink  on  the  jackets,  and  rifle  the 
central  tube?" 

"Oh,  yes,  we  can  4o  that.  The  initial  cast  was 
what  stumped  me.  But  we'll  go  ahead  now." 

"And  you  can  wind  the  breech  with  wire,  and 
braze  it  on;  can't  you?"  persisted  Tom. 

"Yes,  I  think  so.  Are  you  going  to  have  a 
wire-wound  gun?" 

"That,  in  combination  with  a  steel-jacketed 
one.  I'm  going  to  take  no  chances  with 
'Swiftite'!"  laughed  Tom,  for  so  he  had  named 
his  new  explosive,  in  honor  of  his  father,  who 
had  helped  him  with  the  formula. 

"It  must  be  mighty  powerful,"  exclaimed  the 
manager. 

"It  is,"  said  Tom,  simply. 

I  am  not  going  to  tire  my  readers  with  the 
details  leading  up  to  the  casting  of  Tom's  big  can- 


IIj,       70 Af  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

non.  Sufficient  to  say  that  the  general  plan,  in 
brief,  was  this :  A  hole  would  be  dug  in  the  earth, 
in  the  center  of  the  largest  casting  shop — a  hole  as 
deep  as  the  gun  was  to  be  long.  This  was  about 
one  hundred  feet,  though  the  gun,  when  finished, 
would  be  somewhat  shorter  than  this.  An  allow- 
ance was  to  be  made  for  cutting. 

In  the  center  of  this  hole  would  be  a  small 
"core"  made  of  asbestos  and  concrete  mixed. 
Around  this  would  be  poured  the  molten  steel 
from  great  caldrons.  It  would  flow  into  the 
hole.  The  sides  of  earth — lined  with  fire-clay — 
would  hold  it  in,  and  the  middle  core  would  make 
a  hole  throughout  the  length  of  the  central  part 
of  the  gun.  Afterward  this  hole  would  be  bored 
and  rifled  to  the  proper  calibre. 

After  this  central  part  was  done,  steel  jackets 
or  sleeves  would  be  put  on,  red-hot,  and  allowed 
to  shrink.  Then  would  come  a  winding  of  wire, 
to  further  strengthen  the  tube,  and  then  more 
sleeves  or  jackets.  In  this  way  the  gun  would  be 
made  very  strong. 

As  the  greatest  pressure  would  come  at  the 
breech,  or  in  the  powder  chamber  there,  the  gun 
would  be  thickest  at  this  point,  decreasing  in  size 
to  the  muzzle. 

It  took  many  weary  weeks  to  get  ready  for  the 
first  cast,  but  finally  Tom  received  word  that  it 


CASTING  THE  CANNON  113 

was  to  be  made,  and  with  Ned,  and  Mr.  Damon, 
he  proceeded  to  the  plant  of  the  steel  concern. 

There  was  some  delay,  but  finally  the  manager 
gave  the  word.  Tom  and  his  friends,  standing  on 
a  high  gallery,  watched  the  tapping  of  the  com- 
bined furnaces  that  were  to  let  the  molten  steel 
into  the  caldrons.  There  were  several  of  these, 
and  their  melted  contents  were  to  be  poured  into 
the  mould  at  the  same  time. 

Out  gushed  the  liquid  steel,  giving  off  a  myriad 
of  sparks.  The  workers,  as  well  as  the  visitors, 
had  to  wear  violet-tinted  glasses  to  protect  their 
eyes  from  the  glare. 

"Hoist  away!"  cried  the  manager,  and  the 
electric  cranes  started  off  with  the  caldrons  of 
liquid  fire,  weighing  many  tons. 

"Pour!"  came  the  command,  and  into  the  pit 
in  the  earth  splashed  the  melted  steel  that  was  to 
form  the  big  cannon.  From  each  caldron  there 
issued  a  stream  of  liquid  metal  of  intense  heat. 
There  were  numerous  explosions  as  the  air  bub- 
bles burst — explosions  almost  like  a  battery  in 
action. 

"So  far  so  good!"  exclaimed  the  manager, 
with  a  sigh  of  relief  as  the  last  of  the  melted 
stuff  ran  into  the  mould.  "Now,  when  it  cools, 
which  won't  be  for  some  days,  we'll  see  what  we 
have." 


114       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"I  hope  it  contains  no  flaws,"  spoke  Tom 
"That  is  the  worst  of  big  guns — you  never  can 
tell  when  a  flaw  will  develop.  But  I  hope " 

Tom  was  interrupted  by  the  sound  of  a  dispute 
at  one  of  the  outer  doors  of  the  shop. 

"But  I  tell  you  I  must  go  in — I  belong  here 
in !"  a  voice  cried.  It  had  a  German  accent,  and 
at  the  sound  of  it  Tom  and  Ned  looked  at  each 
other. 

"Who  is  there?"  asked  the  manager  sharply 
of  the  foreman. 

"Oh,  a  crazy  German.  He  belongs  in  one  of 
the  other  shops,  and  I  guess  he's  mixed  up.  He 
thinks  he  belongs  here.  I  sent  him  about  his 
business." 

"That  is  right,"  remarked  the  manager.  "I 
gave  orders,  at  your  request,"  he  said  to  Tom, 
"that  no  one  but  the  men  in  this  part  of  the  plant 
were  to  be  present  at  the  casting.  I  can't  under- 
stand what  that  fellow  wanted." 

"I  think  I  can,"  murmured  Tom,  to  himself 


CHAPTER   XIV 

A  NIGHT  INTRUDER 

"ToM,  aren't  you  going  to  try  to  get  a  look  at 
that  German?"  whispered  Ned,  as  he  and  his 
chum  came  down  from  the  elevated  gallery  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  cast  "I  mean  the  one  who  tried 
to  get  in !" 

"I'd  like  to,  Ned,  but  I  don't  want  to  arouse 
any  suspicion,"  replied  Tom.  "I've  got  to  stay 
here  a  while  yet,  and  arrange  about  shrinking  on 
the  jackets,  after  the  core  is  rifled.  I  don't  see 
how " 

"I'll  slip  out  and  see  if  I  can  get  a  peep  at 
him,"  went  on  Ned.  "If  it's  like  the  one  Koku 
described,  we'll  know  that  he's  still  after  you." 

"All  right,  Ned.  Do  as  you  like,  only  be 
cautious." 

"I  will,"  promised  Tom's  chum.  So,  while  the 
young  inventor  was  busy  arranging  details  with 
the  steel  manager,  Ned  slipped  out  of  a  side  door 
of  the  casting  shop,  and  looked  about  the  yard 

"5 


Il6       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

He  saw  a  little  group  of  workmen  surrounding  a 
man  who  appeared  to  be  angry. 

"I  dell  you  dot  is  my  shop!"  one  of  the  men 
was  heard  to  exclaim — a  man  whom  the  others 
appeared  to  dragging  away  with  main  force. 

"And  I  tell  you,  Baudermann,  that  you're  mis- 
taken!" insisted  one,  evidently  a  foreman.  "I 
told  you  to  work  in  the  brazing  department 
What  do  you  want  to  try  to  force  your  way  into 
the  heavy  casting  department  for?  Especially 
when  we're  doing  one  of  the  biggest  jobs  that  we 
ever  handled — making  the  new  Swift  cannon." 

"Oh,  iss  dot  vot  vas  going  on  in  dere  ?"  asked 
the  man  addressed  as  Baudermann.  "Shure  den, 
I  makes  a  misdake.  I  ask  your  pardon,  Herr 
BlackwelL  I  to  mine  own  apartment  will  go. 
But  I  dinks  my  foreman  sends  me  to  dot  place," 
and  he  indicated  the  casting  shop  from  which  he 
had  just  been  barred. 

"All  right!"  exclaimed  the  foreman.  "Don't 
make  that  mistake  again,  or  I'll  dock  you  for  lost 
time." 

"Only  just  a  twisted  German  employe,  I 
guess,"  thought  Ned,  as  he  was  about  to  turn 
back.  "I  was  mistaken.  He  probably  didn't 
understand  where  he  was  sent." 

He  passed  by  the  group  of  men,  who,  laughing 
and  jeering  at  the  German,  weie  showing  him 


A  NIGHT  INTRUDER 

where  to  go.  He  seemed  to  be  a  new  hand  in  the 
vorks. 

But  as  Ned  passed  he  got  one  look  at  the  man's 
face.  Instead  of  a  stupid  countenance,  for  one 
instant  he  had  a  glimpse  of  the  sharpest,  brightest 
eyes  he  had  ever  looked  into.  And  they  were 
hard,  cruel  eyes,  too,  with  a  glint  of  daring  in 
them.  And,  as  Ned  glanced  at  his  figure,  he 
thought  he  detected  a  trace  of  military  stiffness — 
none  of  the  stoop-shouldered  slouch  that  is  al- 
ways the  mark  of  a  moulder.  The  fellow's  hands, 
too,  though  black  and  grimy,  showed  evidences 
of  care  under  the  dirt,  and  Ned  was  sure  his 
uncouth  language  was  assumed. 

"I'd  like  to  know  more  about  you,"  murmured 
Ned,  but  the  man,  with  one  sharp  glance  at  him, 
passed  on,  seemingly  to  his  own  department  of 
the  works. 

"Well,  what  was  it?"  asked  Tom,  as  his  chum 
rejoined  him. 

"Nothing  very  definite,  but  I'm  sure  there  was 
something  back  of  it  all,  Tom.  I  wouldn't  be  sur- 
prised but  what  that  fellow — whoever  he  was — 
whatever  his  object  was — hoped  to  get  in  to  see 
the  casting;  either  to  get  some  idea  about  your 
new  gun,  or  to  do  some  desperate  deed  to 
it." 

"Do  you  think  that,  Ned?" 


Ti8       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNOX 

"I  sure  do.  You've  got  to  be  on  your  guard, 
Tom." 

"I  will.  But  I  wonder  what  object  anyone 
could  have  in  spoiling1  my  gun  ?" 

"So  as  to  make  his  own  cannon  stand  in  & 
better  light." 

"Still  thinking  of  Gei^ral  Waller,  are  you?*' 

"I  am,  Tom." 

There  was  nothing  more  to  be  done  at  present, 
and,  as  it  would  take  several  days  for  the  big 
mass  of  metal  to  properly  cool,  Tom,  Ned  and 
Mr.  Damon  returned  to  Shopton. 

There  Tom  busied  himself  over  many  things, 
Ned  helping  him,  and  Mr.  Damon  lending  an  oc- 
casional hand.  Koku  was  very  useful,  for  often 
his  great  strength  did  what  the  combined  efforts 
of  Tom  and  his  friends  could  not  accomplish. 

As  for  Eradicate,  he  "puttered  around,"  doing 
all  he  could,  which  was  not  much,  for  he  was 
getting  old.  Still  Tom  would  not  think  of  dis- 
charging him,  and  it  was  pitiful  to  see  the  old 
colored  man  try  to  do  things  for  the  young  in- 
ventor— tasks  that  were  beyond  his  strength.  But 
if  Koku  offered  to  help,  Eradicate  would  draw 
himself  up,  and  exclaim  : 

"Git  away  fom  heah!  I  guess  dish  yeah  coon 
ain't  forgot  how  t'  wait  on  Massa  Tom.  Go 
'way,  giant.  I  ain't  so  bi.of  as  yo'-all,  but  I  know. 


'A  NIGHT  INTRUDER  ng 

de  English  language,  which  is  mo'  'n  yo'  all  does. 
Go  on  an'  lemme  be!" 

Koku,  good  naturedly,  gave  place,  for  he,  too, 
felt  for  Eradicate. 

"Well,  Ned,"  remarked  Tom  one  day,  after  the 
visit  of  the  postman,  "I  have  a  letter  from  the 
steel  people.  They  are  going  to  take  the  gun  out 
of  the  mould  to-morrow,  and  start  to  rifle  it. 
We'll  take  a  run  down  in  the  airship,  and  see 
how  it  looks.  I  must  take  those  drawings,  too, 
that  show  the  new  plan  of  shrinking  on  the  jack- 
ets. I  guess  I'll  keep  them  in  my  room,  so  I 
won't  forget  them." 

Tom  and  Ned  occupied  adjoining  and  connect- 
ing apartments,  for,  of  late,  Ned  had  taken  up 
his  residence  with  his  chum.  It  was  shortly  after 
midnight  that  Ned  was  awakened  by  hearing 
someone  prowling  about  his  room.  At  first  he 
thought  it  was  Tom,  for  the  shorter  way  to  the 
bath  lay  through  Ned's  apartment,  but  when  the 
lad  caught  the  flash  of  a  pocket  electric  torch  he 
knew  it  could  not  be  Tom. 

"Who's  there?"  cried  Ned  sharply,  sitting  up 
in  bed. 

Instantly  the  light  went  out,  and  there  was 
silence. 

"Who's  there?"  cried  Ned  again. 


120       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

This  time  he  thought  he  heard  a  stealthy  foot- 
step. 

"What  is  it?"  called  Tom  from  his  chamber. 

"Someone  is  in  here !"  exclaimed  Ned.  "Look 
out,  Tom!" 


CHAPTER   XV 

READY  FOR  THE  TEST 

TOM  SWIFT  acted  promptly,  for  he  realized  the 
necessity.  The  events  that  had  hedged  him  about 
since  he  had  begun  work  on  his  giant  cannon 
made  him  suspicious.  He  did  not  quite  know 
whom  to  suspect,  nor  the  reasons  for  their  ac- 
tions, but  he  had  been  on  the  alert  for  several 
days,  and  was  now  ready  to  act. 

The  instant  Ned  answered  as  he  did,  and 
warned  Tom,  the  young  inventor  slid  his  hand 
under  his  pillow  and  pressed  an  auxiliary  electric 
switch  he  had  concealed  there.  In  a  moment  the 
rooms  were  flooded  with  a  bright  light,  and  the 
two  lads  had  a  momentary  glimpse  of  an  intruder 
making  a  dive  for  the  window. 

"There  he  is,  Tom!"  cried  Ned. 

"What  do  you  want?"  demanded  Tom,  in- 
stinctively. But  the  intruder  did  not  stay  to 
answer. 

Instead,  he  made  a  dive  for  the  casement    It 

121 


122       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

was  one  story  above  the  ground,  but  this  did  not 
cause  him  any  hesitation.  It  was  summer,  and 
the  window  was  open,  though  a  wire  mosquito  net 
barred  the  aperture.  This  was  no  hindrance  to 
the  man,  however. 

As  Ned  and  Tom  leaped  from  their  beds,  Ned 
catching  up  the  heavy,  empty  water  pitcher  as  a 
weapon,  and  Tom  an  old  Indian  war  club  that 
served  as  one  of  the  ornaments  of  his  room,  the 
fellow,  with  one  kick,  burst  the  screen. 

Then,  clambering  out  on  the  sill,  he  dropped 
from  sight,  the  boys  hearing  him  land  with  a 
thud  on  the  turf  below.  It  was  no  great  leap, 
though  the  fall  must  have  jarred  him  consider- 
ably, for  the  boys  heard  him  grunt,  and  then 
groan  as  if  in  pain. 

"Quick !"  cried  Ned.  "Ring  the  bell  for  Koku, 
Ned.  I  want  to  capture  this  fellow  if  possible." 

"Who  is  he?"  asked  Ned. 

"I  don't  know,  but  we'll  see  if  we  can  size  him 
up.  Signal  for  the  giant !" 

There  was  an  electric  bell  from  Tom's  room  to 
the  apartment  of  his  big  servant,  and  a  speaking 
tube  as  well.  While  Ned  was  pressing  the  but- 
ton, and  hastily  telling  the  giant  what  had  hap- 
pened, urging  him  to  get  in  pursuit  of  the  in- 
truder, Tom  had  taken  from  his  bureau  a  power- 
ful, portable,  electric  flash  lamp,  of  the  same 


READY  FOR  THE  TEST  123 

variety  as  that  used  by  the  would-be  thief.  Only 
Tom's  was  provided  with  a  tungsten  filament, 
which  gave  a  glaring  white  pencil  of  light, 
increased  by  reflectors. 

And  in  this  glare  the  young  inventor  saw, 
speeding  away  over  the  lawn,  the  form  of  a  big 
man. 

"There  he  goes,  Ned !"  he  shouted. 

"So  I  see.  Koku  will  be  right  on  the  job.  I 
told  him  not  to  dress.  Can  you  make  out  who  the 
fellow  is?" 

"No,  his  back  is  toward  us.  But  he's  limping, 
all  right.  I  guess  that  jump  jarred  him  up  a  bit 
Where  is  Koku?" 

"There  he  goes  now!"  exclaimed  Ned,  as  a 
figure  leaped  from  the  side  door  of  *he  house — a 
gigantic  figure,  scantily  clad. 

"Get  to  him,  Koku!"  cried  Tom. 

"Me  git,  Master !"  was  the  reply,  and  the  giant 
sped  on. 

"Let's  go  out  and  lend  a  hand!"  suggested 
Ned,  looking  at  the  water  pitcher  as  though  won- 
dering what  he  had  intended  to  do  with  it. 

"I'm  with  you,"  agreed  Tom.  "Only  I  want 
to  get  into  something  a  little  more  substantial 
than  my  pajamas." 

As  the  two  lads  hurriedly  slipped  on  sonic 


I24       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

clothing   they   heard   the    voice    of    Mr.    Swift 
calling: 

"What  is  it,  Tom  ?    Has  anything  happened  ?'* 

"Nothing  much,"  was  the  reassuring  answer. 
"It  was  a  near-happening,  only  Ned  woke  up  in 
time.  Someone  was  in  our  rooms — a  burglar,  I 
guess." 

"A  burglar !    Good  land  a  massy !"  cried  Eradi 
cate,  who  had  also  gotten  up  to  see  what  tin 
excitement  was  about.     "Did  you  cotch  hinx 
Massa  Tom?" 

"No,  Rad ;  but  Koku  is  after  him." 

"Koku?  Huh,  he  nebber  cotch  anybody.  I'se 
got  t'  git  out  dere  mahse'f!  Koku?  Hu!  I 
s'pects  it's  dat  no-'count  cousin  ob  mine,  arter 
mah  chickens  ag'in!  I'll  lambaste  dat  coon 
when  I  gits  him,  so  I  will.  I'll  cotch  him  for  yo'- 
all,  Massa  Tom,"  and,  muttering  to  himself,  the 
aged  colored  man  endeavored  to  assume  the 
activity  of  former  years. 

"Hark!"  exclaimed  Ned,  as  he  and  Tom  were 
about  ready  to  take  part  in  the  chase.  "What's 
that  noise,  Tom?" 

"Sounds  like  a  motor-cycle." 

"It  is.    That  fellow " 

"It's  the  same  chap!"  interrupted  Tom.  "No 
use  trying  to  chase  him  on  that  speedy  machine. 
He's  a  mile  away  from  here  by  now.  He  must 


READY  FOR  THE  TEST  125 

have  had  it  in  waiting,  ready  for  use.    But  come 
on,  anyhow." 

"Where  are  you  going?" 

"O0rt  to  the  shop.  I  want  to  see  if  he  got  in 
tfiere." 

^But  the  charged  wires?" 

"He  may  have  cut  them.    Come  on." 

It  was  as  Tom  had  suspected.  The  deadly, 
charged  wires,  that  formed  a  protecting  cordon 
about  his  shops,  had  been  cut,  and  that  by  an 
experienced  hand,  probably  by  someone  wearing 
rubber  gloves,  who  must  have  come  prepared  for 
that  very  purpose.  During  the  night  the  current 
was  supplied  to  the  wires  from  a  storage  battery, 
through  an  intensifying  coil,  so  that  the  charge 
was  only  a  little  less  deadly  than  when  coining 
direct  from  a  dynamo. 

"This  looks  bad,  Tom,"  said  Ned. 

"It  does,  but  wait  until  we  get  inside  and  IOOK 
around.  I'm  glad  I  took  my  gun-plans  to  the 
house  with  me." 

But  a  quick  survey  of  the  shop  did  not  reveal 
any  damage  done,  nor  had  anything  been  taken, 
as  far  as  Tom  could  tell.  The  office  of  his  main 
shop  was  pretty  well  upset,  and  it  looked  as 
though  the  intruder  had  made  a  search  for  some- 
thing, and,  not  finding  it,  had  entered  the  house. 

"It  was  the  gun-plans  he  was  after,  all  right," 


126       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

decided  Tom.  "And  I  believe  it  was  the  same 
fellow  who  has  been  making  trouble  for  me  right 
along." 

"You  mean  General  Waller?" 

"No,  that  German — the  one  who  was  at  the 
machine  shop." 

"But  who  is  he — what  is  his  object?" 

"I  don't  know  who  he  is,  but  he  evidently  wants 
my  plans.  Probably  he's  a  disappointed  inventor, 
who  has  been  trying  to  make  a  gun  himself,  and 
can't.  He  wants  some  of  my  ideas,  but  he  isn't 
going  to  get  them.  Well,  we  may  as  well  get 
back  to  bed,  after  I  connect  these  wires  again.  I 
must  think  up  a  plan  to  conceal  them,  so  they 
can't  be  cut." 

While  Tom  and  Ned  were  engaged  on  this, 
Koku  came  back,  much  out  of  breath,  to  report : 

"Me  not  git,  Master.  He  git  on  bang-bang 
machine  and  go  off — puff!" 

"So  we  heard,  Koku.  Never  mind,  we'll  get 
him  yet." 

"Hu!  Ef  I  had  de  fust  chanst  at  him,  I'd  a 
cotched  dat  coon  suah!"  declared  Eradicate,  fol- 
lowing the  giant.  "Koku  he  done  git  in  man 
way!"  and  he  glared  indignantly  at  the  big  man. 

"That's  all  right,  Rad,"  consoled  Tom.  "You 
did  your  best.  Now  we'll  all  get  to  bed.  I  don't 
believe  he'll  come  back."  Nor  did  he. 


READY  FOR  THE  TEST  127 

Tom  and  Ned  were  up  at  the  first  sign  of  day- 
light, for  they  wanted  to  go  to  the  steel  works, 
some  miles  away,  in  time  to  see  the  cannon  taken 
out  of  the  mould,  and  preparations  made  for  bor- 
ing the  rifle  channels.  They  found  the  manager 
anxiously  waiting  for  them. 

"Some  of  my  men  are  as  interested  in  this  as 
you  are,"  he  said  to  the  young  inventor.  "A 
number  of  them  declare  that  the  cast  will  be  a 
failure,  while  some  think  it  will  be  a  success." 

"I  think  it  will  be  all  right,  if  my  plans  were 
followed,"  said  Tom.  "However,  we'll  see.  By 
the  way,  what  became  of  that  German  who  made 
such  a  disturbance  the  day  we  cast  the  core?" 

"Oh,  you  mean  Baudermann?" 

"Yes." 

"Why,  it's  rather  queer  about  him.  The  fore- 
man of  the  shop  where  he  was  detailed,  saw  that 
he  was  an  experienced  man,  in  spite  of  his  seem- 
ingly stupid  ways,  and  he  was  going  to  promote 
him,  only  he  never  came  back." 

"Never  came  back?    What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  the  day  after  the  cast  of  the  gun  was 
made  he  disappeared,  and  never  came  back." 

"Oh !"  exclaimed  Tom.  He  said  nothing  more, 
but  he  believed  that  he  understood  the  man's 
actions.  Failing  to  obtain  the  desired  informa- 
tion, or  perhaps  failing  to  spoil  the  cast,  he  real- 


128       TOM  SWIFT  'AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

ized  that  his  chances  were  at  an  end  for  the 
present. 

With  great  care  the  gun  was  hoisted  from  the 
mould.  More  eyes  than  Tom's  anxiously  re- 
garded it  as  it  came  up  out  of  the  casting  pit. 

"Bless  my  buttonhook!"  cried  Mr.  Damon, 
who  had  gone  with  the  lads.  "It's  a  monster; 
isn't  it?" 

"Oh,  wait  until  you  see  it  with  the  jackets  on !" 
exclaimed  Ned,  who  had  viewed  the  completed 
drawings.  "Then  you'll  open  your  eyes." 

The  great  piece  of  hollow  steel  tubing  was 
lifted  to  the  boring  lathe.  Then  Tom  and  the 
manager  examined  it  for  superficial  flaws. 

"Not  one!"  cried  the  manager  in  delight. 

"Not  that  I  can  see,"  added  Tom.  "It's  a 
success — so  far." 

"And  that  was  the  hardest  part  of  the  work," 
went  on  the  manager  of  the  steel  plant.  "I  can 
almost  guarantee  you  success  from  now  on." 

And,  as  far  as  the  rifling  was  concerned,  this 
was  true.  I  will  not  weary  you  with  the  details 
of  how  the  great  core  of  Tom  Swift's  giant  can- 
non was  bored.  Sufficient  to  say  that,  after  some 
annoying  delays,  caused  by  breaks  in  the  ma- 
chinery, which  had  never  before  been  used  on 
such  a  gigantic  piece  of  work,  the  rifling  was 
done.  After  the  jackets  had  been  shrunk  on,  it 


READY  FOR  THE  TEST  129 

would  be  rifled  again,  to  make  it  true  in  case  of 
any  shrinkage. 

Then  came  the  almost  Herculean  task  of 
shrinking  on  the  great  red-hot  steel  jackets  and 
wire-windings,  that  would  add  strength  to  the 
great  cannon.  To  do  this  the  central  core  waa 
set  up  on  end,  and  the  jackets,  having  been 
heated  in  an  immense  furnace,  were  hoisted  by  a 
great  crane  over  the  core,  and  lowered  on  it  as 
one  would  lower  his  napkin  ring  over  the  rolled 
up  napkin. 

It  took  weeks  of  hard  work  to  do  this,  and  Tom 
and  Ned,  with  Mr.  Damon  occasionally  for  com- 
pany, remained  almost  constantly  at  the  plant. 
But  finally  the  cannon  was  completed,  the  rifling 
was  done  over  again  to  correct  any  imperfections, 
and  the  manager  said: 

"You  cannon  is  completed,  Mr.  Swift.  I  want 
to  congratulate  you  on  it  Never  have  we  done 
such  a  stupendous  piece  of  work.  Only  for  your 
plans  we  could  not  have  finished  it.  It  was  too 
big  a  problem  for  us.  Your  cannon  is  completed, 
but,  of  course,  it  will  have  to  be  mounted.  What 
about  the  carriage?" 

"I  have  plans  for  that,"  replied  Tom;  "but  for 
the  present  I  am  going  to  put  it  on  a  temporary 
one.  I  want  to  test  the  gun  now.  It  looks  all 
right,  but  whether  it  will  shoot  accurately,  and 


I30       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

for  a  greater  distance  than  any  cannon  has  ever 
sent  a  projectile  before,  is  yet  to  be  seen." 

"Where  will  you  test  it?" 

"That  is  what  we  must  decide.  I  don't  want  to 
take  it  too  far  from  here.  Perhaps  you  can  select 
a  place  where  it  would  be  safe  to  fire  it,  say  with 
a  range  of  about  thirty  miles." 

"Thirty  miles !  why,  my  dear  sir " 

"Oh,  I'm  not  altogether  sure  that  it  will  go 
that  distance,"  interrupted  Tom,  with  a  smile; 
"but  I'm  going  to  try  for  it,  and  I  want  to  be  on 
the  safe  side.  Is  there  such  a  place  near  here?" 

"Yes,  I  guess  we  can  pick  one  out.  I'll  let  you 
know." 

"Then  I  must  get  back  and  arrange  for  my 
powder  supply,"  went  on  the  young  inventor. 
"We'll  soon  test  my  giant  cannon !" 

"Bless  my  ear-drums!"  cried  Mr.  Damon.  "I 
hope  nothing  bursts.  For  if  that  goes  up,  Torn 
Swift " 

"I'm  not  making  it  to  burst,"  put  in  Tom,  with 
a  smile.  "Don't  worry.  Now,  Ned,  back  to 
Shoptcn  to  get  ready  for  the  test." 


CHAPTER    XVI 

A  WARNING 

"WHEW,  how  it  rains !"  exclaimed  Ned,  as  he 
looked  out  of  the  window. 

"And  it  doesn't  seem  to  show  any  signs  of 
letting  up,"  remarked  Tom.  "It's  been  at  it 
nearly  a  week  now,  and  it  is  likely  to  last  a  week 
longer." 

"It's  beastly,"  declared  his  chum.  "How  can 
you  test  your  gun  in  this  weather?" 

"I  can't.    I've  got  to  wait  for  it  to  clear." 

"Bless  my  rubber  boots!  it's  just  got  to  stop 
some  time,"  declared  Mr.  Damon.  "Don't  worry, 
Tom." 

"But  I  don't  like  this  delay.  I  have  heard  that 
General  Waller  has  perfected  a  new  gun — and 
it's  a  fine  one,  from  all  accounts.  He  has  the 
proving  grounds  at  Sandy  Hook  to  test  his  on, 
and  I'm  handicapped  here.  He  may  beat  me 
out." 

"Oh,  I  hope  not,  Tom !"  exclaimed  Ned  "I'm 
131 


1 32       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

going  to  see  what  the  weather  reports  say,"  and 
he  went  to  hunt  up  a  paper. 

It  was  several  weeks  after  the  completion  of 
Tom's  giant  cannon.  In  the  meanwhile  the  gun 
had  been  moved  by  the  steel  company  to  a  little- 
inhabited  part  of  New  York  State,  some  miles 
from  the  plant.  The  gun  had  been  mounted  on 
an  improvised  carriage,  and  now  Tom  and  his 
friends  were  waiting  anxiously  for  a  chance  to 
try  it. 

The  work  was  not  complete,  for  the  steel  com- 
pany employes  had  been  hampered  by  the  rain. 
Never  before,  it  seemed,  had  there  been  so  much 
water  coming  down  from  the  clouds.  Nearly 
every  day  was  misty,  with  gradations  from  mere 
drizzles  to  heavy  downpours.  There  were  occa- 
sional clear  stretches,  however,  and  during  them 
the  men  worked. 

A  few  more  days  of  clear  weather  would  be 
needed  before  the  gun  could  be  fastened  securely 
to  the  carriage,  and  then  Tom  could  fire  one  of 
the  great  projectiles  that  had  been  cast  for  it 
Not  until  then  would  he  know  whether  or  not  his 
cannon  was  going  to  be  a  success. 

Meanwhile  nothing  more  had  been  heard  or 
seen  of  the  spy.  He  appeared  to  have  given  up 
his  attempts  to  steal  Tom's  secret,  or  to  spoil  his 
plans,  if  such  was  his  object. 


A  WARNING  133 

The  place  of  the  test,  as  I  have  said,  was  in  a 
deserted  spot.  On  one  side  of  a  great  valley  the 
gun  was  being  set  up.  Its  muzzle  pointed  up  the 
valley,  toward  the  side  of  a  mountain,  into  which 
the  gigantic  projectile  could  plow  its  way  without 
doing  any  damage.  Tom  was  going  to  fire  two 
kinds  of  cannon  balls — a  solid  one,  and  one 
containing  an  explosive. 

The  gun  was  so  mounted  that  the  muzzle  could 
be  elevated  or  depressed,  or  swung  from  side  to 
side.  In  this  way  the  range  could  be  varied.  Tom 
estimated  that  the  greatest  possible  range  would 
be  thirty  miles.  It  could  not  be  more  than  that, 
he  decided,  and  he  hoped  it  would  not  be  much 
less.  This  extreme  range  could  be  attained  by 
elevating  the  gun  to  exactly  the  proper  pitch.  Of 
course,  any  shorter  range  could,  within  certain 
limits,  also  be  reached. 

The  gun  was  pointed  slantingly  up  the  valley, 
and  there  was  ample  room  to  attain  the  thirty- 
mile  range  without  doing  any  damage. 

At  the  head  of  the  valley,  some  miles  from 
where  the  giant  cannon  was  mounted,  was  an 
immense  dam,  built  recently  by  a  water  company 
for  impounding  a  stream  and  furnishing  a  supply 
of  drinking  water  for  a  distant  city.  At  the 
other  end  of  the  valley  was  the  thriving  village 
of  Preston.  A  railroad  ran  there,  and  it  was  to 


134       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANXON 

Preston  station  that  Tom's  big  gun  had  been  sent, 
to  be  transported  afterward,  on  specially  made 
trucks,  drawn  by  powerful  autos,  to  the  place 
where  it  was  now  mounted. 

Tom  had  been  obliged  to  buy  a  piece  of  land  on 
which  to  build  the  temporary  carriage,  and  also 
contract  for  a  large  slice  of  the  opposite  moun- 
tain, as  a  target  against  which  to  fire  his 
projectiles. 

The  valley,  as  I  have  said,  was  desolate.  It 
was  thickly  wooded  in  spots,  and  in  the  centre, 
near  the  big  dam,  which  held  back  the  waters  of 
an  immense  artificial  lake,  was  a  great  hill,  evi- 
dently a  relic  of  some  glacial  epoch.  This  hill 
was  a  sort  of  division  between  two  valleys. 

Tom,  Ned,  Mr.  Damon,  with  Koku,  and  some 
of  the  employes  of  the  steel  company,  had  hired 
a  deserted  farmhouse  not  far  from  the  place 
where  the  gun  was  being  mounted.  In  this  they 
lived,  while  Tom  directed  operations. 

"The  paper  says  'clear'  to-morrow,"  read  Ned, 
on  his  return.  "  'Clear,  with  freshening  winds/  ' 

"That  means  rain,  with  no  wind  at  all,"  de- 
clared Tom,  with  a  sigh.  "Well,  it  can't  be 
helped.  As  Mr.  Damon  says,  it  will  clear  some 
time." 

"Bless  my  overshoes !"  exclaimed  the  odd  get* 
tleman.  "It  always  has  cleared;  hasn't  it?" 


A  WARNING  135 

No  one  could  deny  this. 

There  came  a  slackening  in  the  showers,  and 
Tom  and  Ned,  donning  raincoats,  went  out  to  see 
how  the  work  was  progressing.  They  found  the 
men  from  the  steel  concern  busy  at  the  great 
piece  of  engineering. 

"How  are  you  coming  on  ?"  asked  Tom  of  the 
foreman. 

"We  could  finish  it  in  two  days  if  this  rain 
would  only  let  up,"  replied  the  man. 

"Well,  let's  hope  that  it  will,"  observed  Tom. 

"If  it  doesn't,  there's  likely  to  be  trouble  up 
above,"  went  on  the  foreman,  nodding  in  the 
direction  of  the  great  dam. 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  that  the  water  is  getting  too  high. 
The  dam  is  weakening,  I  heard." 

"Is  that  so?  Why,  I  thought  they  had  made  it 
to  stand  any  sort  of  a  flood." 

"They  evidently  didn't  count  on  one  like  this. 
They've  got  the  engineer  who  built  it  up  there, 
and  they're  doing  their  best  to  strengthen  it.  I 
also  heard  that  they're  preparing  to  dynamite  it  to 
open  breeches  here  and  there  in  it,  in  case  it  is 
likely  to  give  way  suddenly." 

"You  don't  mean  it!  Say,  if  it  does  go  out 
with  a  rush  it  will  wipe  out  the  village." 

"Yes,  but  it  can't  hurt  us,"  went  on  the  fore- 


136       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON. 

man.  "We're  too  high  up  on  the  side  of  tKe 
hill.  Even  if  the  dam  did  burst,  if  the  course  of 
the  water  could  be  changed,  to  send  it  down  that 
other  valley,  it  would  do  no  harm,  for  there  are  no 
settlements  over  there,"  and  he  pointed  to  the 
distant  hill. 

It  was  near  this  hill  that  Tom  intended  to 
direct  his  projectiles,  and  on  the  other  side  of  it 
was  another  valley,  running  at  right  angles  to  the 
one  crossed  by  the  dam. 

As  the  foreman  had  said,  if  the  waters  (in  case 
the  dam  burst)  could  be  turned  into  this 
transverse  valley,  the  town  could  be  saved. 

"But  it  would  take  considerable  digging  to 
open  a  way  through  that  side  of  the  mountain, 
into  the  other  valley,"  went  on  the  man. 

"Yes,"  said  Tom,  and  then  he  gave  the  matter 
no  further  thought,  for  something  came  up  that 
needed  his  attention. 

"Have  you  your  explosive  here?"  asked  the 
foreman  of  the  young  inventor  the  next  day, 
when  the  weather  showed  signs  of  clearing. 

"Yes,  some  of  it,"  said  Tom.  "I  have  another 
supply  in  a  safe  place  in  the  village.  I  didn't 
want  to  bring  too  much  here  until  the  gun  was 
to  be  fired.  I  can  easily  get  it  if  we  need  it. 
Jove !  I  wish  it  would  clear.  I  want  to  get  out  iu 
my  Humming  Bird,  but  I  can't  if  this  keeps  up." 


A  WARNING  137 

Tom  had  brought  one  of  his  speedy  little  airships 
with  him  to  Preston. 

The  following  day  the  clouds  broke  a  little, 
and  on  the  next  the  sun  shone.  Then  the  work  on 
the  gun  went  on  apace.  Tom  and  his  friends 
were  delighted. 

"Well,  I  think  we  can  try  a  shot  to-morrow!" 
announced  Tom  with  delight  on  the  evening  of 
the  first  clear  day,  when  all  hands  had  worked  at 
double  time. 

"Bless  my  powder-horn!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Damon.  "You  don't  mean  it !" 

"Yes,  the  gun  is  all  in  place,"  went  on  the 
young  inventor.  "Of  course,  it's  only  a  temporary 
carriage,  and  not  the  disappearing  one  I  shall 
eventually  use.  But  it  will  do.  I'm  going  to  try 
a  shot  to-morrow.  Everything  is  in  readiness." 

There  came  a  knock  on  the  door  of  the  room 
Tom  had  fitted  up  as  an  office  in  the  old  farm- 
house. 

"Who  is  it?"  he  asked. 

"Me — Koku,"  was  the  answer. 

"Well,  what  do  you  want,  Koku?" 

"Man  here  say  him  must  see  Master." 

Tom  and  Ned  looked  at  each  other,  suspicion 
hi  their  eyes. 

"Maybe  it's  that  spy  again,"  whispered  Ned. 

"U  it  is,  we'll  be  ready  for  him,"  murmured  his 


138       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON.  ' 

dium.  "Show  him  in,  Koku,  and  you  come  in 
too." 

But  the  man  who  entered  at  once  disarmed 
suspicion.  He  was  evidently  a  workman  from 
the  dam  above,  and  his  manner  was  strangely 
excited. 

"You  folks  had  better  get  out  of  here!"  he 
exclaimed. 

"Why?"  asked  Tom,  wondering  what  was 
going  to  happen. 

"Why?  Because  our  dam  is  going  to  burst 
within  a  few  hours.  I've  been  sent  to  warn  the 
folks  in  town  in  time  to  let  them  take  to  the  hills. 
You'd  better  move  your  outfit.  The  dam  can't 
last  twenty- four  hours  longer!" 


CHAPTER   XVII 

THE  BURSTING  DAM 

"BLESS  my  fountain  pen!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Damon.  "You  don't  mean  it !" 

"I  sure  do !"  went  on  the  man  who  had  brought 
the  startling  news.  "And  the  folks  down  below 
aren't  going  to  have  any  more  time  than  they 
need  to  get  out  of  the  way.  They'll  have  to  lose 
some  of  their  goods,  I  reckon.  But  I  thought  I'd 
stop  on  my  way  down  and  warn  you.  You'd 
better  be  getting  a  hustle  on." 

"It's  very  kind  of  you,"  spoke  Tom;  "but  I 
don't  fancy  we  are  in  any  danger." 

"No  danger!"  cried  the  man.  "Say,  when  that 
water  begins  to  sweep  down  here  nothing  on  earth 
can  stop  it  That  big  gun  of  yours,  heavy  as  it 
is,  will  be  swept  away  like  a  straw,  I  know — I 
saw  the  Johnstown  flood!" 

"But  we're  so  high  up  on  the  side  of  the  hill, 
that  the  water  won't  come  here,"  put  in  Ned. 
"We  had  that  all  figured  out  when  we  heard  the 

139 


140       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

dam  was  weak.  We're  not  in  any  danger;  do 
you  think  so,  Tom  ?" 

"Well,  I  hardly  do,  or  I  would  not  have  set  the 
gun  where  I  did.  Tell  me/'  he  went  on  to  the 
man,  "is  there  any  way  of  opening  the  dam,  to 
let  the  water  out  gradually?" 

"There  is,  but  the  opening's  are  not  enough* 
with  such  a  flood  as  this.  The  engineers  never 
counted  on  so  much  rain.  It's  beyond  any  they 
ever  had  here.  You  see,  there  was  a  small  creek 
that  we  dammed  up  to  make  our  lake.  Some  of 
the  water  from  the  spillway  flows  into  that  now, 
but  its  channel  won't  hold  a  hundredth  part  of 
the  flood  if  the  dam  goes  out 

"You'd  better  move,  I  tell  you.  The  dam  is 
slowly  weakening.  We've  done  all  we  can  to 
save  it,  but  that's  out  of  the  question.  The  only 
thing  to  do  is  to  run  while  there's  time.  We've 
tried  to  make  additional  openings,  but  we  daren't 
make  any  more,  or  the  wall  will  be  so  weakened 
that  it  will  go  out  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours. 

"You've  had  your  warning,  now  profit  by  it!" 
he  added.  "I'm  going  to  tell  those  poor  souls 
down  in  the  valley  below.  It  will  be  tough  on 
them ;  but  it  can't  be  helped." 

"If  the  dam  bursts  and  the  water  could  only  be 
turned  over  into  the  transverse  valley,  this  one 
would  be  safe,"  said  Tom,  in  a  low  voice. 


THE  BURSTING  DAM  141 

"Yes,  but  it  can't  be  done!"  the  messenger 
exclaimed.  "Our  engineers  thought  of  that,  but 
it  would  take  a  week  to  open  a  channel,  and  there 
isn't  time.  It  can't  be  done !" 

"Maybe  it  can,"  spoke  Tom,  softly,  but  no  one 
asked  him  what  he  meant 

"Well,  I  must  be  off,"  the  man  went  on.  "I've 
done  my  duty  in  warning  you." 

"Yes,  you  have,"  agreed  Tom,  "and  if  any 
damage  comes  to  us  it  will  be  our  own  fault 
But  I  don't  believe  there  will." 

The  man  hastened  out,  murmuring  something 
about  "rash  and  foolhardy  people." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do,  Tom?"  aske'd  Ned. 

"Stay  right  here." 

"But  if  the  dam  bursts?" 

"It  may  not,  but,  if  it  does,  we'll  be  safe.  I 
have  had  a  look  at  the  water,  and  there's  no 
chance  for  it  to  rise  here,  even  if  the  whole  dam 
went  out  at  once,  which  is  not  likely.  Don't 
worry.  We'll  be  all  right." 

"Bless  my  checkbook!"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 
"But  what  about  those  poor  people  in  the  valley  ?"< 

"They  will  have  time  to  flee,  and  save  their 
lives,"  spoke  the  young  inventor;  "but  they  may 
lose  their  homes.  They  can  sue  the  water  company 
for  damages,  though.  Now  don't  do  any  more 
worrying,  but  get  to  bed,  and  be  ready  for  the  test 


142 

to-morrow.  And  the  first  thing  I  do  I'm  going  to 
have  a  little  flight  in  the  Humming  Bird  to  get 
my  nerves  in  trim.  This  long  rain  has  gotten  me 
in  poor  shape.  Koku,  you  must  be  on  the  alert 
to-night.  I  don't  want  anything  to  happen  to  my 
gun  at  the  last  minute." 

"Me  watch !"  exclaimed  the  giant,  significantly, 
as  he  picked  up  a  heavy  club. 

"Do  you  anticipate  any  trouble?"  asked  Ned, 
anxiously. 

"No,  but  it's  best  to  be  on  the  safe  side," 
answered  Tom.  "Now  let's  turn  in." 

Certainly  the  next  day,  bright  and  sunshiny  as 
it  broke,  had  in  it  little  of  impending  disaster. 
The  weather  was  fine  after  the  long-continued 
rains,  and  the  whole  valley  seemed  peaceful  and 
quiet  At  the  far  end  could  be  seen  the  great  dam, 
with  water  pouring  over  it  in  a  thin  sheet,  forming 
a  small  stream  that  trickled  down  the  centre  of 
the  valley,  and  to  the  town  below. 

But,  through  great  pipes  that  led  to  the  drink' 
ing  system,  though  they  were  unseen,  thundered 
immense  streams  of  solid  water,  reducing  by  as 
much  as  the  engineers  were  able  the  pressure  on 
the  concrete  wall. 

Tom  and  Ned,  in  the  Humming  Bird,  took  a 
flight  out  to  the  dam  shortly  after  breakfast, 
when  the  steel  men  were  putting  a  few  finishing 


THE  BURSTING  DAM  143 

touches  to  the  gun  carriage,  ready  for  the  test  that 
was  to  take  place  about  noon. 

"It  doesn't  look  as  though  it  would  burst," 
observed  Ned,  as  the  aircraft  hovered  over  the 
big  artificial  lake. 

"No,"  agreed  Tom.  "But  I  suppose  the  engi- 
neers want  to  be  on  the  safe  side  in  case  of  dam- 
age suits.  I  want  to  take  a  look  at  the  place 
where  the  other  valley  comes  up  to  this  at  right 
angles." 

He  steered  his  powerful  little  craft  in  that 
direction,  and  circled  low  orer  the  spot. 

"A  bursting  projectile,  about  where  that  big1 
white  stone  is,  would  do  the  trick,"  murmured 
Tom. 

"What  trick?"  asked  Ned,  curiously. 

"Oh,  I  guess  I  was  talking  to  myself,"  admitted 
Tom,  with  a  laugh.  "I  may  not  have  to  do  it, 
Ned" 

"Well,  you're  talking  in  riddles  to-day,  all 
right,  Tom,  When  you  get  ready  to  put  me  wise, 
please  do." 

"I  will.  Now  we'll  get  back,  and  fire  our  first 
long  shot.  I  do  hope  I  make  a  record." 

There  was  much  to  be  done,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  the  foreman  of  the  steel  workers  assured 
Tom  that  all  was  in  readiness.  It  was  some  time 
that  afternoon  when  word  was  given  for  those 


144       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

who  wished  to  retire  to  an  improvised  bomb- 
proof. Word  had  previously  been  sent  down  the 
valley  so  that  no  one,  unless  he  was  looking  for 
trouble,  need  be  in  the  vicinity  of  the  gun,  nor 
near  where  the  shots  were  to  land. 

Through  powerful  glasses  Tom  and  Ned  sur- 
veyed the  distant  mountain  that  was  to  be  the 
target  Several  great  squares  of  white  cloth  had 
been  put  at  different  bare  spots  to  make  the 
finding  of  the  range  easy. 

"I  guess  we're  ready  now,"  announced  the 
young  inventor,  a  bit  nervously.  "Bring  up  the 
powder,  Koku." 

"Me  bring,"  exclaimed  the  giant,  calmly,  as  he 
went  to  the  bomb-proof  where  the  powerful 
explosive  was  kept 

The  great  projectile  was  in  readiness  to  be 
slung  into  the  breech  by  means  of  the  hoisting 
apparatus,  for  it  weighed  close  to  two  tons.  It 
was  carefully  inserted  under  Tom's  supervision. 
It  carried  no  bursting  charge,  for  Tom's  first  shot 
was  merely  to  establish  the  extreme  range  that  his 
cannon  would  shoot 

"Now  the  powder,"  called  the  young  inventor. 
To  avoid  accidents  Koku  handled  this  himself, 
the  hoisting  apparatus  being  dispensed  with. 
Tom  figured  out  that  five  hundred  pounds  of  his 
new,  powerful  explosive  would  be  about  the  right 


THE  BURSTING  DAM  145 

amount  to  use,  and  this  quantity,  divided  into 
several  packages  to  make  the  handling  easier, 
was  quickly  inserted  in  the  breech  of  the  gun  by 
Koku. 

"Bless  my  doormat!"  cried  Mr.  Damon,  who 
stood  near,  looking  nervously  on.  "Don't  drop 
any  of  that." 

"Me  no  drop,"  was  the  answer. 

Tom  was  busily  engaged  in  figuring  on  a  bit 
of  paper,  and  Ned,  who  looked  over  his  shoulder, 
saw  a  complicated  compilation  that  looked  to  be 
a  combination  of  geometry,  algebra,  differential 
calculus  and  other  higher  mathematics. 

"What  are  you  doing,  Tom?"  he  asked. 

"I'm  trying  to  confirm  my  own  theories  by 
means  of  figures,  to  see  if  I  can  really  reach  that 
farthest  target." 

"What,  not  the  one  thirty  miles  away?" 

"That's  it,  Ned.  I  want  to  get  a  thirty-mile 
range  if  I  can." 

"It  isn't  possible,  Tom." 

"Bless  my  tape  measure!  I  should  say  not!" 
cried  Mr.  Damon. 

"We'll  see,"  replied  Tom,  quietly.  "Put  in 
the  primer,  Ned ;  and,  Koku,  close  the  breech  and 
slot  it  home." 

In  a  few  seconds  the  great  gun  was  ready  for 
firing. 


146       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Now,"  said  Tom,  "this  thing  may  be  all 
right,  and  it  may  not  The  only  thing  that  can 
cause  an  accident  will  be  a  flaw  in  the  steel.  No 
one  can  guard  against  that  So,  in  order  to  be  on 
'the  safe  side,  we  will  all  g&  into  the  bomb-proof, 
and  I  will  fire  the  gun  from  there.  The  wires  arc 
long  enough." 

They  all  agreed  that  this  was  good  advice,  and 
soon  the  steel  men  and  Tom's  friends  were  gath- 
ered in  a  sort  of  cave  that  had  been  hollowed  out 
in  the  side  of  the  hill,  and  at  an  angle  from  the 
big  gun. 

"If  it  does  burst — which  I  hope  it  won't,"  said 
Tom,  "the  pieces  will  fly  in  straight  lines,  so  we 
will  be  safe  enough  here.  Ned,  are  you  are 
ready  at  the  instruments?" 

"Yes,  Tom." 

"I  want  you  to  note  the  registered  muzzle 
velocity.  Mr.  Damon,  you  will  please  read  the 
pressure  gauge.  After  I  press  the  button  I'm 
going  to  watch  the  landing  of  the  projectile 
through  the  telescope." 

The  gun  had  been  pointed,  as  I  have  said,  at 
the  farthest  target — one  thirty  miles  away,  tele- 
scope sights  on  the  giant  cannon  making  this 
possible. 

"All  ready!"  cried  Tom. 

"All  ready,"  answered  Ned. 


THE  BURSTING  DAM  147 

There  was  a  tense  moment;  Tom's  thumb 
pressed  home  the  electric  button,  and  then  came 
Ae  explosion. 

It  seemed  for  a  moment  as  if  everyone  was, 
lifted  from  his  feet.  They  had  all  stood  on  their 
tiptoes,  and  opened  their  mouths  to  lessen  the 
shock,  but  even  then  it  was  terrific.  The  very 
ground  shook — from  the  roof  of  their  cave  small 
stones  and  gravel  rattled  down  on  their  heads. 
Their  ear-drums  were  numbed  from  the  shock. 
And  the  noise  that  filled  the  valley  seemed  like  a 
thousand  thunderbolts  merged  into  one. 

Tom  rushed  from  the  bomb-proof,  dropping 
the  electric  button.  He  caught  sight  of  his  gun, 
resting  undisturbed  on  the  improvised  carriage. 

"Hurray !"  he  cried  in  delight  "She  stood  the 
charge  all  right.  And  look !  look !"  he  cried,  as  he 
pointed  the  glasses  toward  the  distant  hillside. 
"There  goes  my  projectile  as  straight  as  an  ar- 
row. There!  By  Caesar,  Ned!  It  landed  within 
three  feet  of  the  target!  Oh,  you  beauty!"  he 
yelled  at  his  giant  cannon.  "You  did  all  I  hoped 
yon  would!  Thirty  miles,  Ned!  Think  of  that!; 
A  two-ton  projectile  being  shot  thirty  miles!" 

"It's  great,  Tom!"  yelled  his  chum,  dapping 
him  on  the  back,  and  capering  about  "It's  the 
longest  shot  on  record." 

"It  certainly  is,"  declared  the  foreman  of  the 


148       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

steel  workers,  who  had  helped  in  casting  many 
big  guns.  "No  cannon  ever  made  can  equal  it 
You  win,  Tom  Swift!" 

"Bless  my  armor  plate!"  gasped  Mr.  Damon. 
."What  attacking  ship  against  the  Panama  Canal 
could  float  after  a  shot  like  that." 

"Not  one,"  declared  Tom;  "especially  after  I 
put  a  bursting  charge  into  the  projectile.  We'll 
try  that  next." 

By  means  of  compressed  air  the  gases  and  some 
particles  of  the  unexploded  powder  were  blown 
out  of  the  big  cannon.  Then  it  was  loaded  again, 
the  projectile  this  time  carrying  a  bursting  charge 
of  another  explosive  that  would  be  set  off  by 
concussion. 

Once  more  they  retired  to  the  bomb-proof,  and 
again  the  great  gun  was  fired.  Once  more  the 
ground  shook,  and  they  were  nearly  deafened  by 
the  shock. 

Then,  as  they  looked  toward  the  distant  hill- 
side, they  saw  a  shower  of  earth  and  great  rocks 
rise  up.  It  was  like  a  sand  geyser.  Then,  when 
this  settled  back  again,  there  was  left  a  gaping 
hole  in  the  side  of  the  mountain. 

"That  does  the  business!"  cried  Tom.  "My 
cannon  is  a  success!" 

The  last  shot  did  not  go  quite  as  far  as  the 
first,  but  it  was  because  a  different  kind  of  pro- 


THE  BURSTING  DAM  149 

jectile  was  used.  Tom  was  perfectly  satisfied, 
however.  Several  more  trials  were  given  the  gun, 
and  each  one  confirmed  the  young  inventor  in  his 
belief  that  he  had  made  a  wonderful  weapon. 

"If  that  doesn't  fortify  the  Panama  Canal,, 
nothing  will,"  declared  Ned. 

"Well,  I  hope  I  can  convince  Uncle  Sam  of 
that,"  spoke  Tom,  simply. 

The  muzzle  velocity  and  the  pressure  were 
equal  to  Tom's  highest  hopes.  He  knew,  now, 
that  he  had  hit  on  just  the  right  mixture  of 
powder,  and  that  his  gun  was  correctly  propor- 
tioned. It  showed  not  the  slightest  strain. 

"Now  we'll  try  another  bursting  shell,"  he 
said,  after  a  rest,  during  which  some  records  were 
made.  "Then  we'll  call  it  a  day's  work.  Koku, 
bring  up  some  more  powder.  I'll  use  a  little 
heavier  charge  this  time." 

It  was  while  the  gun  was  being  loaded  that  a 
horseman  was  seen  riding  wildly  down  the  valley. 
He  was  waving  a  red  flag  in  his  hand. 

"Bless  my  watch  chain!"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 
"What's  that?" 

"It  looks  as  though  he  was  coming  to  give  us  a 
warning,"  suggested  the  steel  foreman. 

"Maybe  someone  has  kicked  about  our  shoot- 
ing," remarked  Ned. 

"I  hope  not,"  murmured  Tom. 


150       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

He  looked  at  the  horseman  anxiously.  The 
rider  came  nearer  and  nearer,  wildly  waving  his 
flag.  He  seemed  to  be  shouting  something,  but 
his  words  could  not  be  made  out.  Finally  he  came 
near  enough  to  be  heard. 

"The  dam!  The  dam  I"  he  cried.  "It's  burst- 
ing. Your  shots  have  hastened  it  The  cracks 
are  widening.  You'd  better  get  away  1"  And  he 
galloped  on. 

"Bless  my  toilet  soap!"  gasped  Mr.  Damon. 

"I  was  afraid  of  this !"  murmured  Tom.  "But, 
since  our  shots  have  hastened  the  disaster,  maybe 
we  can  avert  it" 

"How?"  demanded  Ned. 

"I'll  show  you.  All  hands  come  here  and  we'll 
shift  this  gun.  I  want  it  to  point  at  that  big 
white  stone!"  and  he  indicated  an  immense 
boulder,  well  up  the  valley,  near  the  place  where 
the  two  great  gulches  joined. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE  DOPED  POWDER 

"WHAT  arc  you  going  to  do,  Tom?"  cried 
Ned,  as  he,  with  the  others,  worked  the  hand 
gear  that  shifted  the  big  gun.  When  it  was  per- 
manently mounted  electricity  would  accomplish 
this  work.  "What's  your  game,  Tom  ?" 

"Don't  you  remember,  Ned?  When  we  were 
talking  about  the  chance  of  the  dam  bursting,  I 
said  if  the  current  of  suddenly  released  water 
could  be  turned  into  the  other  valley,  the  people 
below  us  would  be  saved." 

"Yes." 

"Well,  that's  what  I'm  going  to  do.  I'm  going 
to  fire  a  bursting  shell  at  the  point  where  the  two 
valleys  come  together.  I'll  break  down  the  bar- 
rier of  rock  and  stone  between  them." 

"Bless  my  shovel  and  hoe !"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 

"If  we  can  turn  enough  of  the  water  into  the 
other  valley,  where  no  one  lives,  and  where  it  can 
tscape  into  the  big  river  there,  the  amount  that 

151 


TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

will  flow  down  this  valley  will  be  so  small  that 
only  a  little  damage  will  be  done." 

"That's  right!"  declared  the  steel  foreman,  as 
he  caught  Tom's  idea.  "It's  the  only  way  it  could 
be  done,  too,  for  there  won't  be  time  to  make  the 
necessary  excavation  any  other  way.  Is  the  gun 
swung  around  far  enough,  Mr.  Swift?" 

"No,  a  little  more  toward  me,"  answered  Tom, 
as  he  peered  through  the  telescope  sights. 
"There,  that  will  do.  Now  to  get  the  proper 
elevation,"  and  he  began  to  work  the  other 
apparatus,  having  estimated  the  range  as  well  as 
he  could. 

In  a  few  seconds  the  giant  cannon  was  properly 
trained  on  the  white  rock.  Meanwhile  the  horse- 
man, with  his  red  flag,  had  continued  on  down 
the  valley.  In  spite  of  his  warning  of  the  night 
before,  it  developed  that  a  number  had  disre- 
garded it,  and  had  remained  in  their  homes. 
Most  of  the  inhabitants,  however,  had  fled  to  the 
hills,  to  stay  in  tents,  or  with  such  neighbors  as 
could  accommodate  them.  Some  lingered  to 
move  their  household  goods,  while  others  fled 
with  what  they  could  carry. 

It  was  to  see  that  the  town  was  deserted  by 
these  late-stayers  that  the  messenger  rode,  crying 
his  warning  as  did  the  messenger  at  the  bursting 
of  the  Johnstown  dam  twenty-odd  years  ago. 


THE  DOPED  POWDER  153 

"The  projectile!"  cried  Tom,  as  he  saw  that  all 
was  in  readiness.  "Lively  now!  I  can  see  the 
top  of  the  dam  beginning  to  crumble,"  and  he 
laid  aside  the  telescope  he  had  been  using. 
I  The  projectile,  with  a  heavy  charge  of  bursting 
powder,  was  slung  into  the  breech  of  the  gun. 

"Now  the  powder,  Koku !"  called  Tom.  "Be 
quick ;  but  not  so  fast  that  you  drop  any  of  it." 

"Me  fetch,"  responded  the  giant,  as  he  has- 
tened toward  the  small  cave  where  the  explosive 
was  kept.  As  the  big  man  brought  the  first  lot, 
and  Ned  was  about  to  insert  it  in  the  breech  of  the 
gun,  behind  the  projectile,  Tom  exclaimed: 

"Just  let  me  have  a  look  at  that.  It's  some  that 
I  first  made,  and  I  want  to  be  sure  it  hasn't  gone 
stale." 

Critically  he  looked  at  the  powerful  explosive. 
As  he  did  so  a  change  came  over  his  face. 

"Here,  Koku!"  the  young  inventor  said. 
"Where  did  you  get  this?" 

"In  cave,  Master." 

"Is  there  any  more  left?" 

"Only  enough  for  this  one  shoot." 

"By  Jove!"  muttered  Tom.  "There's  been 
some  trick  played  here !"  and  he  set  off  on  a  run 
toward  the  bomb-proof. 

"What's  the  matter?"  cried  Ned,  as  he  noticed 
the  agitation  of  his  chum. 


154       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"The  powder  has  been  doped!"  yelled  Tom. 
"Something  has  been  put  in  it  to  make  it  non- 
explosive.  It's  no  good.  It  wouldn't  send  that 
shell  a  thousand  yards,  and  it's  got  to  go  five 
miles  to  do  any  good.  My  plan  won't  work."  ( 

"Doped  the  powder?"  gasped  Ned.  "Who 
could  have  done  it  ?" 

"I  don't  know.  There  must  have  been  some 
spy  at  work.  Quick,  run  and  ask  the  foreman  if 
any  of  his  men  are  missing.  I'll  see  if  there's 
enough  of  the  good  powder  left  to  break  down 
the  barrier !" 

Ned  was  away  like  a  shot,  while  the  others,  not 
knowing  what  to  make  of  the  strange  conduct  of 
the  two  lads,  looked  on  in  wonder.  Tom  raced 
toward  the  cave  where  the  powder  was  stored, 
Koku  following  him. 

"Bless  my  shoe  laces!"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 
"Look  at  the  dam  now !" 

They  gazed  to  where  he  pointed.  In  several 
places  the  concrete  spillway  had  crumbled  down 
to  a  ragged  edge,  showing  that  the  solid  wall  was 
giving  way.  The  amount  of  water  flowing  over 
the  dam  was  greater  now.  The  creek  was 
steadily  rising.  Down  the  valley  the  horseman 
with  the  red  flag  was  but  a  speck  in  the  distance. 

"What  can  I  do?  What  can  I  do?"  murmured 
Tom,  "If  all  the  powder  there  is  left  has  been 


THE  DOPED  POWDER  155 

doped,  I  can't  save  the  town!  What  can  I  do? 
What  can  I  do?" 

Ned  had  reached  the  foreman,  who,  with  his 
helpers,  was  standing  about  the  big  gun. 

"Have  any  of  your  men  left  recently?"  yelled 
Ned. 

"Any  of  my  men  left?    What  do  you  mean? 

"Schlichter  went  yesterday,"  said  the  time- 
keeper. "I  thought  he  was  in  quite  a  hurry  to 
get  his  money,  too." 

"Schlichter  gone!"  exclaimed  the  foreman. 
"He  was  no  good  anyhow.  I  think  he  was  a  sort 
of  Anarchist ;  always  against  the  government,  the 
way  he  talked.  So  he  has  left;  eh?  But  what's 
the  matter,  Ned?" 

"Something  wrong  with  the  powder.  Tom 
can't  shoot  the  cannon  and  turn  aside  the  water 
to  save  the  town.  Some  of  his  enemies  have  been 
at  work.  Schlichter  leaving  at  this  time,  and  in 
such  hurry,  makes  it  look  suspicious." 

"It  sure  does !  And,  now  I  recall  it,  I  saw  him 
yesterday  near  your  powder  magazine.  I  called 
him  down  for  it,  for  I  knew  Tom  Swift  had  given 
orders  that  only  his  own  party  was  to  go  near  it. 
So  the  powder  is  doped ;  eh  ?" 

"Yes!    It's  all  off  now." 

He  turned  to  see  Tom  approaching  on  the  run. 


156       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Any  good  powder  left  ?"  asked  Ned. 

"Not  a  pound.    Did  you  hear  anything?" 

"Yes,  one  man  has  disappeared.  Oh,  Tom, 
we've  got  to  fail  after  all!  We  can't  save  the 
town !" 

"Yes,  we  can,  Ned.  If  that  dam  will  only  hold 
for  half  an  hour  more." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  that  I  have  another  supply  of  good 
powder  in  the  village.  I  secreted  some  there,  you 
remember  I  told  you.  If  I  can  go  get  that,  and 
get  back  here  in  time,  I  can  break  down  the 
barrier  with  one  shot,  and  save  Preston." 

"But  you  never  can  make  the  trip  there  and 
back  in  time,  with  the  powder,  Tom.  It's  impos- 
sible. The  dam  may  hold  half  an  hour,  or  it  may 
not  But,  if  it  does,  you  can't  do  anything!" 

"I  can't?  Well,  I'm  going  to  make  a  big  try, 
Ned.  You  stay  on  the  job  here.  Have  every- 
thing ready  so  that  when  I  get  back  with  the  new 
explosive,  which  I  hope  hasn't  been  tampered 
with,  I  can  shove  it  into  the  breech,  and  set  it  off. 
Have  the  wires,  primers  and  button  all  ready  for 
me." 

Then  Tom  set  off  on  the  run. 

"Where  are  you  going?"  gasped  his  chum, 
can  never  run  to  Preston  and  back  in  time." 
I  don't  intend  to.  I'm  going  in  my  airship. 


THE  DOPED  POWDER  157 

Koku,  never  mind  bringing  the  rest  of  the  powder 
from  the  cave.  It's  no  good.  Run  out  the 
Humming  Bird.  I'm  going  to  drive  her  to  the 
limit.  I've  just  got  to  get  that  powder  here  on 
time!" 

"Bless  my  timetable!"  gasped  Mr.  Damon. 
"That's  the  only  way  it  can  be  done.  Lucky  Tom 
brought  the  airship  along!" 

The  young  inventor,  pausing  only  to  get  some 
rans  for  the  explosive,  and  some  straps  with 
which  to  fasten  them  in  the  monoplane,  leaped 
into  the  speedy  craft. 

The  motor  was  adjusted;  Koku  whirled  the 
propeller  blades.  There  was  a  staccato  succession 
of  explosions,  a  rushing,  roaring  sound,  and  then 
the  craft  rose  like  a  bird,  and  Tom  circled  about, 
making  a  straight  course  for  the  distant  town, 
while  below  him  the  creek  rose  higher  and  higher 
as  the  dam  continued  to  crumble  away. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

BLOWING  DOWN  THE  BARRIER 

"CAN  you  see  anything  of  him,  Ned?" 

"Not  a  thing,  Mr.  Damon.  Wait — hold  on — 
no!  It's  only  a  bird,"  and  the  lad  lowered  the 
glasses  with  which  he  had  been  sweeping  the  sky, 
looking  for  his  chum  returning  in  his  airship  with 
the  powder. 

"He'd  better  hurry,"  murmured  the  foreman. 
"That  dam  can't  last  much  longer.  The  water  is 
rising  fast.  When  it  does  go  out  it  will  go  with  a 
rush.  Then  good-bye  to  the  village  of  Preston." 

"Bless  my  insurance  policy !"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 
"Don't  say  such' things,  my  friend." 

"But  they're  true!"  insisted  the  man.  "You 
can  see  for  yourself  that  the  cracks  in  the  dam 
are  getting  larger.  It  will  be  a  big  flood  when  it 
does  come.  And  I'm  not  altogether  sure  that 
we're  safe  up  here,"  he  added,  as  he  looked  down 
the  sides  of  the  hill  to  where  the  creek  was  now 
rapidly  becoming  a  raging  torrent. 

158 


BLOWING  DOWN  THE  BARRIER          159 

"Bless  my  hat-band!"  gasped  Mr.  Damon. 
"You — you  are  getting  on  my  nerves!" 

"I  don't  want  to  be  a  calamity  howler,"  went 
on  the  foreman ;  "but  we've  got  to  face  this  thing. 
We'd  better  get  ready  to  vamoose  if  Tom  Swift 
doesn't  reach  here  in  time  to  fire  that  shot — and 
he  doesn't  seem  to  be  in  sight." 

Once  more  Ned  swept  the  sky  with  his  glasses. 
The  roar  of  the  water  below  them  could  be  plainly 
heard  now. 

"I  wish  I  could  get  hold  of  that  rascally  Ger- 
man," muttered  the  foreman.  "I'd  give  him 
more  than  a  piece  of  my  mind.  It  will  be  his  fault 
if  the  town  is  destroyed,  for  Tom's  plan  would 
have  saved  it.  I  wonder  who  he  can  be, 
anyhow  ?" 

"Some  spy,"  declared  Ned.  "We've  been  hav- 
ing trouble  right  along,  you  know,  and  this  is  part 
of  the  game.  I  have  some  suspicions,  but  Tom 
doesn't  agree  with  me.  Certainly  the  fellow, 
whatever  his  object,  has  made  trouble  enough 
this  time." 

"I  should  say  so,"  agreed  the  foremaa 

"Look,  Ned!"  cried  Mr.  Damon.  "Is  that  a 
bird ;  or  is  it  Tom  ?"  and  he  pointed  to  a  speck  in 
the  sky.  Ned  quickly  focused  his  glasses  on  it 

"It's  Tom !"  he  cried  a  second  later.  "It's  Tom 
in  the  Humming  Bird!" 


l6o       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Thank  Heaven  for  that !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Da- 
mon, fervently,  forgetting  to  bless  anything  on 
this  occasion.  "If  only  he  can  get  here  in  time!" 

"He's  driving  her  to  the  limit!"  cried  Ned, 
still  watching  his  chum  through  the  glass.  "He's 
coming!" 

"He'll  need  to,"  murmured  the  foreman, 
grimly.  "That  dam  can't  last  ten  minutes  more. 
Look  at  the  people  fleeing  from  the  valley !" 

He  pointed  to  the  north,  and  a  confused  mass  of 
small  black  objects — men,  women  and  children, 
doubtless,  who  had  lingered  in  spite  of  the  other 
warning— could  be  seen  clambering  up  the  sides 
of  the  valley. 

"Is  everything  ready  at  the  gun?"  asked  Mr, 
Damon. 

"Everything,"  answered  Ned,  whom  Tom  had 
instructed  in  all  the  essentials.  "As  soon  as  he 
lands  we'll  jam  in  the  powder,  and  fire  the  shot." 

"I  hope  he  doesn't  land  too  hard,  with  all  that 
explosive  on  board,"  murmured  the  foreman. 

"Bless  my  checkerboard!"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 
"Don't  suggest  such  a  thing." 

"I  guess  we  can  trust  Tom,"  spoke  Ned. 

They  looked  up.  The  distant  throb  of  the 
monoplane's  motor  could  now  be  heard  above  the 
roar  of  the  swollen  waters.  Tom  could  be  seen 


BLOWING  DOWN  THE  BARRIER          161 

m  his  seat,  and  beside  him,  in  the  other,  was  a 
large  package. 

Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  monoplane.  It 
began  to  descend,  very  gently,  for  well  Tom  Swift 
knew  the  danger  of  hitting  the  ground  too  hard 
with  the  cargo  he  carried. 

He  described  a  circle  in  the  air  to  check  his 
speed.  Then,  gently  as  a  bird,  he  made  a  landing 
not  far  from  the  gun,  the  craft  running  easily 
over  one  of  the  few  level  places  on  the  side  of  the 
hill.  Tom  yanked  on  the  brake,  and  the  iron-shod 
pieces  of  wood  dug  into  the  ground,  checking  the 
progress  of  the  monoplane  on  its  bicycle  wheels. 

"Have  you  got  it,  Tom  ?"  yelled  Ned. 

"I  have,"  was  the  answer  of  the  young  inventor 
as  he  leaped  from  his  seat. 

"Is  it  good  powder?"  asked  the  foreman, 
anxiously. 

"I  don't  know/*  spoke  Tom.  "I  didn't  have 
time  to  look.  I  just  rushed  up  to  where  I  had 
stored  it,  got  some  out  and  came  back  with  the 
motor  at  full  speed.  Ran  into  an  airpocket,  too, 
and  I  thought  it  was  all  up  with  me  when  I  began 
to  fall.  But  I  managed  to  get  out  of  it.  Say, 
we're  going  to  have  it  nip  and  tuck  here  to  save 
the  village." 

"That's  what!"  agreed  the  foreman,  as  he 
helped  Koku  take  the  cans  of  explosive. 


102       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Wait  until  I  look  at  it,"  suggested  Tom,  as 
he  opened  one.  His  trained  eye  and  touch  soon 
told  him  that  this  explosive  had  not  been 
tampered  with. 

"It's  all  right!"  he  shouted.  "Into  the  gun 
with  it,  and  we'll  see  what  happens." 

It  was  the  work  of  only  a  few  moments  to  put 
in  the  charge.  Then,  once  more,  the  breech- 
block was  slotted  home,  and  the  trailing  electric 
wires  unreeled  to  lead  to  the  bomb-proof. 

Tom  Swift  took  one  last  look  through  the 
telescope  sights  of  his  giant  cannon.  He  changed 
the  range  slightly  by  means  of  the  hand  and 
worm-screw  gear,  and  then,  with  the  others,  ran 
to  the  shelter  of  the  cave.  For,  though  the  gun 
had  stood  the  previous  tests  well,  Tom  had  used 
a  heavier  charge  this  time,  both  in  the  firing 
chamber  and  in  the  projectile,  and  he  wanted  to 
take  no  chances. 

"All  ready?"  asked  the  young  inventor,  as  he 
looked  around  at  his  friends  gathered  in  the 
cave. 

"I — I  guess  so,"  answered  Ned,  somewhat 
doubtfully. 

Tom  hesitated  a  moment,  then,  as  his  fingers 
stiffened  to  press  the  electric  button  there  sounded 
to  the  ears  of  all  a  dull,  booming  sound. 

"The  dam !    It  has  given  way !"  cried  Ned. 


BLOWING  DOWN  THE  BARRIER          163 

"That's  it!"  shouted  the  foreman.     "Fire!" 

Tom  pressed  the  button.  Once  again  was  that 
awful  tremor  of  the  earth — the  racking  shake — 
the  terrific  explosion  and  a  shock  that  knocked  a 
couple  of  the  men  down. 

"All  right!"  shouted  Tom.  "The  gun  held 
together.  It's  safe  to  go  out  We'll  see  what 
happened !" 

They  all  rushed  from  the  shelter  of  the  cave. 
Before  them  was  an  awe-inspiring  sight.  A  great 
wall  of  water  was  coming  down  the  valley,  from 
a  large  opening  in  the  centre  of  the  dam.  It 
seemed  to  leap  forward  like  a  race  horse. 

Tom  declared  afterward  that  he  saw  his  pro- 
jectile strike  the  barrier  that  separated  one  valley 
from  the  other,  but  none  of  the  others  had  eyes- 
sight  as  keen  as  this — and  perhaps  Tom  was  in 
error. 

But  there  was  no  doubt  that  they  all  saw  what 
followed.  They  heard  a  distant  report  as  the 
great  projectile  burst.  Then  a  wall  of  earth 
seemed  to  rise  up  in  front  of  the  advancing  wall 
of  water.  High  into  the  air  great  stones  and 
masses  of  dirt  were  thrown. 

"A  good  shot!"  cried  the  foreman.  "Just  in 
the  right  place,  Tom  Swift !" 

For  a  moment  it  was  as  though  that  wall  of 
water  hesitated,  not  deciding  whether  to  continue 


164       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

on  down  the  populated  valley,  or  to  swing  over 
into  the  other  gash  where  it  could  do  com- 
paratively little  harm.  It  was  a  moment  of 
suspense. 

Then,  as  Tom's  great  shot  had,  by  means  of 
the  exploding  projectile,  torn  down  the  barrier, 
the  water  chose  the  more  direct  and  shorter  path. 
With  a  mighty  roar,  like  a  distant  Niagara,  it 
swept  into  the  new  channel  the  young  inventor 
bad  made.  Into  the  transverse  valley  it  tumbled 
and  tossed  in  muddy  billows  of  foam,  and  only -a 
small  portion  of  the  flood  added  itself  to  the 
already  swollen  creek. 

The  village  of  Preston  had  been  saved  by  the 
shot  from  Tom's  giant  cannon. 


CHAPTER   XX 

THE  GOVERNMENT  ACCEPTS 

"WHEW  !  Let  me  sit  down  somewhere  and  get 
my  breath !"  gasped  Tom,  when  it  was  all  over. 

"I  should  think  you  would  want  a  bit  of  quiet," 
replied  Ned.  "You've  been  on  the  jump  since 
early  morning." 

"Bless  my  dining-room  table!"  cried  Mr. 
Damon,  "I  should  say  so!  I'll  go  tell  the  cook 
to  get  us  all  a  good  meal — we  need  it,"  for  a 
competent  cook  had  been  installed  in  the  old  farm- 
house where  Tom  and  his  party  had  their 
headquarters. 

"But  you  did  the  trick,  Tom,  old  man!"  ex- 
claimed Ned,  fervently,  as  he  looked  down  the 
valley  and  saw  the  receding  water.  For,  with  the 
opening  of  the  channel  into  the  other  valley  the 
flood,  at  no  time  particularly  dangerous  near 
Preston,  was  subsiding  rapidly. 

"He  sure  did,"  declared  the  foreman.  "No 
one  else  could  have  done  it,  either." 

165 


166       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  spoke  Tom,  modestly.  "It 
just  happened  so.  There  was  one  minute,  though, 
after  I  got  to  the  place  in  Preston  where  I  had 
stored  the  powder,  that  I  didn't  know  whether  I 
would  succeed  or  not." 

"How  was  that  ?"  asked  Mr.  Damon. 

"Why,  in  my  hurry  and  excitement  I  forgot 
the  key  to  the  underground  storeroom  where  I 
had  put  the  explosive.  I  knew  there  was  no  time 
to  get  another,  so  I  took  a  chance  and  burst  in  the 
door  with  an  axe  I  found  in  the  freight  depot." 

"I  should  say  you  did  take  a  chance !"  declared 
Ned,  who  knew  how  "freaky"  the  high  explosive 
was,  and  how  likely  it  was,  at  times,  to  be  set  off 
by  the  least  concussion. 

"But  it  came  out  all  right,"  went  on  Tom.  "I 
bundled  it  into  the  other  seat  of  my  Humming 
Bird,  and  started  bade" 

"Had  most  of  the  folks  left  town?"  asked  the 
foreman. 

"Nearly  all,"  replied  Tom.  "The  last  of  them 
were  hurrying  away  as  I  left  And  it  shows  how 
scared  they  were,  they  didn't  pay  any  attention  to 
me  and  my  flying  machine,  though  I'll  wager 
some  of  them  never  saw  one  before." 

"Well,  they  don't  need  to  be  scared  any  more," 
put  in  Mr.  Damon,  "You  saved  their  homes  for 
them,  Tom." 


THE  GOVERNMENT  ACCEPTS  167 

"I'd  like  to  get  hold  of  the  fellow  who  doped 
my  powder ;  that's  what  I'd  like  to  do,"  murmured 
the  young  inventor.  "Ned,  we'll  have  to  be 
doubly  watchful  from  now  on.  But  I  must  take 
a  look  at  my  gun.  That  last  charge  may  have 
strained  it" 

But  the  giant  cannon  was  as  perfect  as  the  day 
it  was  turned  out  of  the  shop.  Not  even  the 
extra  charge  of  the  powerful  explosive  had 
injured  it. 

"That's  fine !"  cried  Tom,  as  he  looked  at  every 
part.  "As  soon  as  this  flood  is  over  we'll  try 
some  more  practice  shots.  But  we're  all  entitled 
to  a  rest  now." 

The  great  gun  was  covered  with  tarpaulins  to 
protect  it  from  the  weather,  and  then  all  retired 
to  the  house  for  a  bountiful  meal.  Late  that  after- 
noon nearly  all  signs  of  the  flood  had  disappeared, 
save  that  along  the  edges  of  the  creek  was  much 
driftwood,  showing  the  height  to  which  the  creek 
had  risen.  But  it  would  have  gone  much  higher 
had  it  not  been  for  Tom's  timely  shot. 

The  water  from  the  impounded  lake  continued 
to  pour  down  into  the  cross  valley,  and  did  some 
damage,  but  nothing  like  what  would  have  fol- 
lowed its  advent  into  Preston.  The  few  inhab- 
itants of  the  gulch  into  which  the  young  inventor 
had  directed  the  flood  had  had  warning,  and  had 


168       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

fled  in  time.  In  Preston,  some  few  houses  nearest 
the  banks  of  the  rising  creek  were  flooded,  but 
were  not  carried  away. 

The  following  day  some  of  the  officers  of  the 
water  company  paid  a  visit  to  Tom,  to  thank  him 
for  what  he  had  done.  But  for  him  they  would 
have  been  responsible  for  great  property  damage, 
and  loss  of  life  might  have  followed. 

They  intended  to  rebuild  the  dam,  they  said, 
on  a  new  principle,  making  it  much  stronger. 

"And,"  said  the  president,  "we  will  have  an 
emergency  outlet  gate  into  that  valley  you  so 
providentially  opened  for  us,  Mr.  Swift.  Then, 
in  time  of  great  rain,  we  can  let  the  water  out 
slowly  as  we  need  to." 

Tom's  chief  anxiety,  now,  was  to  bring  his  per- 
fected gun  to  the  notice  of  the  United  States 
Government  officials.  To  have  them  accept  it,  he 
knew  he  must  give  it  a  test  before  the  ordnance 
board,  and  before  the  officers  of  the  army  and 
navy.  Accordingly  he  prepared  for  this. 

He  ordered  several  new  projectiles,  some  of  a 
different  type  from  those  heretofore  used,  and 
leaving  Koku  and  Ned  in  charge  of  the  gun,  went 
back  to  Shopton  to  superintend  the  manufacture 
of  an  additional  supply  of  his  explosive.  He  took 
care,  too,  that  no  spies  gained  access  to  it. 

Then,  with  a  plentiful  supply  of  ammunition 


THE  GOVERNMENT  ACCEPTS  169 

and  projectiles,  Tom  resumed  his  practice  in  the 
lonely  valley.  He  had,  in  the  meanwhile,  sent 
requests  to  the  proper  government  officials  to 
come  and  witness  the  tests. 

At  first  he  met  with  no  success,  and  he  learned, 
incidentally,  that  General  Waller  had  built  a  new 
gun,  the  merits  of  which  he  was  also  anxious  to 
show. 

"It's  a  sort  of  rivalry  between  us,"  said  Tom 
to  Ned. 

But,  in  a  way,  fortune  favored  our  hero.  For 
when  General  Waller  tested  his  new  gun,  though 
it  did  not  burst,  it  did  not  come  up  to  expecta- 
tions, and  its  range  was  not  as  great  as  some  of 
the  weapons  already  in  use. 

Then,  too,  Captain  Badger  acted  as  Tom's 
friend  at  court.  He  "pulled  wires"  to  good  ad- 
vantage, and  at  last  the  government  sent  word 
that  one  of  the  ordnance  officers  would  be  present 
on  a  certain  day  to  witness  the  tests. 

"I  wish  the  whole  board  had  come,"  said  Tom. 
"Probably  they  have  only  sent  a  young  fellow, 
just  out  of  West  Point,  who  will  turn  me  down. 

"But  I'm  going  to  give  him  the  surprise  of  his 
life ;  and  if  he  doesn't  report  favorably,  and  insist 
on  the  whole  board  coining  out  here,  I'll  be  much 
disappointed." 

Tom  made  his  preparations  carefully,  and  cer- 


170       TOM  SWIF1  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

tainly  Captain  Waydell,  the  young  officer  who 
came  to  represent  Uncle  Sam,  was  impressed. 
Tom  sent  shell  after  shell,  heavily  charged, 
against  the  side  of  the  mountain.  Great  holes 
and  gashes  were  torn  in  the  earth.  The  gun  even 
exceeded  the  range  of  thirty  miles.  And  the 
heaviest  armor  plate  that  could  be  procured  was 
to  the  projectiles  of  the  giant  cannon  like  cheese 
to  a  revolver  bullet. 

"It's  great,  Mr.  Swift!  Great!"  declared  the 
young  captain.  "I  shall  strongly  recommend 
that  the  entire  board  see  this  test."  And  when 
Tom  let  him  fire  the  gun  himself  the  young  man 
was  more  than  delighted. 

He  was  as  good  as  his  word,  and  a  week  later 
the  entire  ordnance  board,  from  the  youngest 
member  to  the  grave  and  grizzled  veterans,  were 
present  to  witness  the  test  of  Tom's  giant  cannon. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  it  was  successful. 
Tom  and  Ned,  not  to  mention  Mr.  Damon,  Koku 
and  every  loyal  member  of  the  steel  working 
gang,  saw  to  it  that  there  was  no  hitch.  The 
solid  shots  were  regarded  with  wonder,  and  when 
the  explosive  one  was  sent  against  the  hillside, 
making  a  geyser  of  earth,  the  enthusiasm  was 
unbounded. 

"We  shall  certainly  recommend  your  gun,  Mr. 
Swift,"  declared  the  Chief  of  Staff.  "It  does  just 


THE  GOVERNMENT  ACCEPTS  171 

what  we  want  it  to  do,  and  we  have  no  doubt  that 
Congress  will  appropriate  the  money  for  several 
with  which  to  fortify  the  Panama  Canal." 

"The  gun  is  most  wonderful,"  spoke  a  voice 
With  a  German  accent.  "It  is  surprising!" 

Tom  and  Ned  both  started.  They  saw  an 
officer,  evidently  a  foreigner,  resplendent  in  gold 
trimmings,  and  with  many  medals,  standing  near 
the  secretary  of  the  ordnance  board. 

"Yes,  General  von  Brunderger,"  agreed  the 
chief,  "it  is  a  most  timely  invention.  Mr.  Swift, 
allow  me  to  present  you  to  General  von  Brun- 
derger, of  the  German  army,  who  is  here  learning 
how  Uncle  Sam  does  things." 

Tom  bowed  and  shook  hands.  He  glanced 
sharply  at  the  German,  but  was  sure  he  had  never 
seen  him  before.  Then  all  the  board,  and  General 
von  Brunderger,  who,  it  appeared,  was  present 
as  an  invited  guest,  examined  the  big  cannon 
critically,  while  Tom  explained  the  various 
details. 

When  the  board  members  left,  the  chief  prom- 
ised to  let  Tom  know  the  result  of  the  formal 
report  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  young  inventor  did  not  have  long  to  wait. 
In  about  two  weeks,  during  which  time  he  and 
Ned  perfected  several  little  matters  about  the 
cannon,  there  came  an  official-looking  document 


172       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Well,  we'll  soon  know  the  verdict,"  spoke 
Tom,  somewhat  nervously,  as  he  opened  the  en- 
velope. Quickly  he  read  the  enclosure. 

"What  is  it!"  cried  Ned. 

"The  government  accepts  my  gun !"  exclaimed 
the  young  inventor.  "It  will  purchase  a  number 
as  soon  as  they  can  be  made.  We  are  to  take  one 
to  Panama,  where  it  will  be  set  up.  Hurray, 
Ned,  my  boy !  Now  for  Panama !" 


CHAPTER    XXI 

OFF  FOR  PANAMA 

"WELL/'  Tom,  it  doesn't  seem  possible ;  does  it, 
old  man?" 

"You're  right,  Ned — in  a  way.  And  yet,  after 
all  the  hard  work  we've  done,  almost  anything  is 
possible." 

"Hard  work!  We?  Oh,  pshaw!  You've 
done  most  of  it,  Tom.  I  only  helped  here  and 
there." 

"Indeed,  and  you  did  more  than  that.  If  it 
hadn't  been  for  you,  Mr.  Damon  and  Koku  we'd 
never  have  gotten  off  as  soon  as  we  did.  The 
government  is  the  limit  for  doing  things,  some- 
times." 

"Bless  my  timetable!  but  I  agree  with  you," 
put  in  Mr.  Damon.  "But  at  last  we  are  on  the 
way,  in  spite  of  delays." 

This  conversation  took  place  on  board  one  of 
Uncle  Sam's  warships,  which  the  President  had 

173 


174       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

designated  to  take  Tom's  giant  cannon  to  the 
Panama  Canal. 

The  big  gun  had  been  lashed  to  the  deck  of  the 
vessel,  and  was  well  protected  from  the  weather. 
In  the  hold  the  parts  of  the  disappearing  carriage, 
which  Tom  had  at  last  succeeded  in  having  made, 
were  securely  stowed.  In  another  part  of  the 
warship  were  the  big  projectiles,  some  arranged 
to  be  fired  as  solid  shots,  and  others  with  a 
bursting  charge.  There  was  also  a  good  supply 
of  the  powerful  explosive,  and  Tom  had  taken 
extraordinary  precautions  so  that  it  could  not  be 
tampered  with.  Koku  had  been  detailed  as  a 
sort  of  guard  over  it,  and  to  relieve  him  was  » 
trustworthy  sergeant  of  marines. 

"If  anyone  tries  to  dope  that  powder  now, 
and  spoil  my  test  at  Panama,"  declared  Tom, 
"he'll  wish  he'd  never  tried  it" 

"Especially  if  Koku  gets  hold  of  him,"  added 
Ned,  grimly. 

"But  I  don't  believe  there  is  any  danger,"  went 
on  the  young  inventor.  "I  spoke  about  what  had 
happened,  and  the  ordnance  board  took  extra  pre- 
cautions to  see  that  none  but  men  and  officers  who 
could  be  implicitly  trusted  had  anything  to  do 
with  this  expedition." 

"You  don't  really  believe  anything  like  treach- 
ery would  be  attempted ;  do  you,  Tom  ?" 


OFF  FOR  PANAMA  175 

"I  don't  know  what  to  say.  Certainly  I  can't 
see  why  anyone  connected  with  Uncle  Sam  would 
want  to  throw  cold  water  on  a  plan  to  fortify 
the  canal,  even  if  an  outsider  has  invented  the 
gun — I  mean  someone  like  myself,  not  connected 
with  the  army  or  navy." 

"If  it's  anything  it's  jealousy,"  declared  Ned. 
"That  General  Waller " 

"There  you  go  again,  Ned.  Let's  not  talk 
about  it.  Come  on  forward  and  see  what 
progress  we  are  making." 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  to  get  the  big  gun 
aboard  the  vessel,  arrange  for  a  new  supply  of  the 
explosive,  and  for  many  of  the  great  projectiles, 
had  been  easy  work.  It  was  a  task  that  taxed  the 
skill  and  strength  of  Tom  and  his  friends  to  the 
utmost. 

There  had  been  wearying  delays,  especially  in 
the  matter  of  making  the  disappearing  carriage. 
At  times  it  seemed  as  if  the  required  projectiles 
would  never  be  finished.  The  powder,  too,  gave 
trouble,  for  sometimes  batches  would  be  turned 
out  that  were  utterly  worthless. 

But  Tom  never  gave  up,  even  when  it  seemed 
that  some  of  the  failures  were  purposely  made. 
Ned  declared  that  there  was  a  conspiracy  against 
his  chum,  but  Tom  could  not  see  it  that  way.  It 


i;6       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

was  due  to  a  combination  of  circumstances,  he 
insisted. 

But  finally  the  gun  had  been  put  aboard  the 
ship,  having  been  transported  from  the  proving 
ground  in  the  valley,  and  they  were  now  en  route 
to  Panama.  There  the  giant  cannon  was  to  be 
set  up,  and  tried  again.  If  it  came  up  to  expecta- 
tions it  was  to  be  finally  adopted  as  the  official 
gun  for  the  protection  of  the  big  canal,  and  Tom 
would  receive  a  substantial  reward. 

"And  I'm  confident  that  it  will  make  good," 
said  the  young  inventor  to  his  chum,  as  they 
paced  the  deck  of  the  vessel.  "In  fact,  I'm  so 
sure  I  have  practically  engaged  the  Universal 
Steel  Company  to  hold  itself  in  readiness  to  make 
several  more  of  the  guns." 

"But  suppose  Uncle  Sam  decides  against  the 
cannon  on  this  second  test?" 

"Well,  then  I've  lost  out,  that's  all,"  declared 
Tom,  philosophically.  "But  I  don't  believe  they 
will." 

"It  certainly  is  a  giant  cannon,"  remarked  Ned, 
as  he  paused  to  look  at  the  prostrate  monster, 
lashed  to  the  deck,  with  its  wrappings  of  tar- 
paulins. "It  looks  bigger  here  than  it  did  when 
you  fired  the  shot  that  saved  the  town,  Tom." 

*  Yes,  I  suppose  it  does,  by  contrast  But  let's 
go  down  and  see  how  the  powder  and  shells  are 


OFF  FOR  PANAMA 

standing  the  trip.  I  told  the  captain  to  have 
them  securely  lashed,  so  if  we  struck  rough 
weather,  and  the  vessel  rolled,  they  wouldn't 
carry  away." 

"Especially  the  powder,"  put  in  Ned.  "If  that 
starts  to  banging  around — well,  I'd  rather  be 
somewhere  else." 

"Bless  my  rain  gauge!"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 
"Please  don't  say  such  things.  You  make  me 
nervous.  You're  as  bad  as  that  steel  foreman." 

"AH  right,  I'll  be  better,"  promised  Ned,  with 
a  laugh. 

The  two  chums  found  that  every  precaution 
had  been  taken  in  regard  to  the  projectiles  and 
powder.  Koku  was  on  guard,  the  giant  regard- 
ing the  boxes  of  explosive  with  a  calm  but 
determined  eye.  It  would  not  be  well  for  any 
unauthorized  hand  to  tamper  with  them. 

"Am  dere  anyt'ing  I  kin  do  fo'  yo'-all,  Massa 
Tom  ?"  inquired  Eradicate,  as  the  young  inventor 
and  Ned  prepared  to  go  on  deck  again.  The 
aged  colored  man  had  insisted  on  coming  as  a 
sort  of  personal  bodyguard  to  Tom,  and  the 
latter  had  not  the  heart  to  refuse  him.  Eradicate 
was  desperately  jealous  of  the  giant 

"Huh!"  Eradicate  had  said,  "anybody  kin  sit 
an*  look  at  a  lot  ob  dem  powder  boxes ;  but  'tain't 


TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

everybody  what  kin  wait  on  Massa  Tom.  I  kin, 
an'  I'se  gwine  t'  do  it"  And  so  he  had. 

It  was  planned  to  proceed  directly  to  Colon, 
the  eastern  terminus  of  the  canal,  from  New  York, 
stopping  at  Santiago  to  transact  some  govern- 
ment business  there,  The  big  gun  was  to  be 
mounted  on  a  barbette  near  the  Gatun  locks, 
pointing  out  to  sea,  and  the  trial  shots  would  be 
fired  over  the  water. 

Eventually  the  gun  would  be  so  mounted  as  to 
swing  in  a  circle,,  so  as  to  command  the  land 
as  well  as  the  water;  and,  in  fact,  if  the  govern- 
ment decided  to  adopt  Tom's  giant  cannon  a* 
the  official  protective  arm  of  the  canal,  they 
would  all  be  so  mounted.  For,  of  course,  it 
might  be  possible  for  land  as  well  as  sea  forces 
to  attack  and  try  to  capture  the  big  ditch. 

The  first  few  days  of  the  voyage  were  pleasant 
enough.  The  weather  was  fine,  and  Tom  was 
kept  busy  explaining  to  many  of  the  officers 
aboard  the  ship  the  principles  of  his  gun,  powder 
and  projectiles.  Members  of  the  ordnance  board, 
who  had  been  detailed  to  witness  the  test,  were 
also  much  interested  as  Tom  modestly  described 
his  work  on  the  giant  cannon. 

At  Santiago  de  Cuba,  when  Tom  and  Ned 
were  standing  near  the  gangway,  watching  the 
officers  returning  from  shore  leave,  for  the  ship 


OFF  FOR  PANAMA  179 

was  to  proceed  soon,  after  a  two  days'  stay,  the 
young  inventor  started  as  he  noticed  a  military 
man  walking  aboard. 

"Look,  Ned !"  he  exclaimed,  in  a  low  voice, 

"Where?" 

"At  that  man — an  officer  in  civilian  dress,  I 
should  judge — haven't  you  seen  him  before  ?" 

"I  have,  Tom.  Now,  where  was  it?  I  seem 
to  remember  his  face ;  and  yet  he  wasn't  dressed 
like  this  the  last  time  I  saw  him." 

"I  guess  not,  Ned.  He  had  on  a  uniform 
then." 

"By  jinks !  I  have  it.  That  German  officer — 
von  Brunderger!  That's  he!" 

"You're  right,  Ned.  And  he's  got  his  servant 
with  him,  I  guess,"  and  Tom  nodded  toward  a 
stolid  German  who  was  carrying  the  other's  suit- 
case. 

"I  wonder  what  he's  doing  aboard  here?"  went 
on  our  hero's  chum. 

"We'll  soon  know,"  spoke  Tom.  "He's  seen  us 
and  is  nodding.  We  might  as  well  go  meet  him." 

"Ah,  my  good  friend,  Tom  Swift!"  exclaimed 
General  von  Brunderger,  genially,  as  he  grasped 
the  hands  of  Tom  and  Ned.  "I  am  glad  to  see 
you  both  again."  He  seemed  to  mean  it,  though 
he  had  not  been  especially  cordial  to  them  at  the 
first  gun  test.  "Take  my  grip  below,"  he  said 


l8o       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

in  German  to  the  man,  "and,  Rudolph,  find 
Lieutenant  Blake  and  inform  him  that  I  am  on 
board.  I  have  been  invited  to  go  to  Panama 
by  Lieutenant  Blake,"  he  added  to  Tom.  "I  have 
never  seen  the  big  ditch  that  you  wonderful 
Americans  have  so  nearly  finished." 

"It  is  going  to  be  a  big  thing,"  spoke  Tom. 
"I  am  proud  that  my  gun  is  going  to  help 
protect  it." 

"Ah,  so  you  were  successful,  then?"  and  his 
voice  expressed  surprise.  "I  had  not  heard.  And 
the  big  gun ;  is  he  here  ?"  Though  speaking  very 
good  English,  von  Brunderger  occasionally  lapsed 
into  the  idioms  of  his  Fatherland. 

"Yes,  it's  on  board,"  said  Tom.  "Are  you 
going  to  Panama  for  any  special  purpose?" 

Ned  declared  afterward  that  the  German 
started  as  Tom  asked  this  question,  but  if  he  did 
the  young  inventor  scarcely  noticed  it.  In  an 
instant,  however,  von  Brunderger  was  composed 
again. 

"I  go  but  to  see  the  big  ditch  before  the  water 
is  let  in,"  he  replied.  "And  since  your  gun  is  to 
have  a  test  I  shall  be  glad  to  witness  that.  You 
see,  I  am  commissioned  by  my  Kaiser  to  learn  all 
that  you  Americans  will  allow  me  to  in  reference 
to  your  ways  of  doing  things — in  the  army,  the 
navy  and  in  the  pursuit  of  peace.  After  all,  prep- 


OFF  FOR  PANAMA  181 

aration  for  war  is  the  best  means  of  securing 
peace.  Your  officers  have  been  more  than  kind 
and  I  have  taken  advantage  of  the  offer  to  go  to 
Panama.  Lieutenant  Blake  said  the  ship  would 
stop  here,  and,  as  I  had  business  in  Cuba,  I  came 
and  waited,  I  am  delighted  to  see  you  both 
again." 

He  went  below,  leaving  Tom  and  Ned  staring 
at  one  another. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  of  it?"  asked  Ned. 

"I  don't  see  anything  to  be  worried  about," 
declared  Tom.  "It's  true  that  a  German  once 
tried  to  make  trouble  for  me,  but  this  von  Brun- 
derger  is  all  right,  as  far  as  I  can  learn.  He  has 
the  highest  references,  and  is  an  accredited  repre- 
sentative of  the  Kaiser.  You  are  too  suspicious, 
Ned,  just  as  you  were  in  the  case  of  General 
Waller." 

"Maybe  so." 

From  Santiago,  swinging  around  the  island  of 
Jamaica,  the  warship  took  her  way,  with  the  big 
gun,  to  Colon.  When  half  way  across  the  Carib- 
bean Sea  they  encountered  rough  weather. 

The  storm  broke  without  any  unusual  prelimi- 
naries, but  quickly  increased  to  a  hurricane,  and 
when  night  fell  it  saw  the  big  ship  rolling  and 
tossing  in  a  tempestuous  sea.  Tom  was  anxious 


182       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

about  his  big  gun,  but  the  captain  assured  him 
that  double  lashings  would  make  it  perfectly  safe. 

Tom  and  Ned  had  seen  little  of  the  German 
officer  that  day,  nor,  in  fact,  since  he  came  aboard. 
He  kept  much  in  the  quarters  of  the  other  officers, 
and  the  report  was  current  that  he  was  a  "jolly 
good  fellow." 

Rather  anxious  as  to  the  outcome  of  the  storm, 
Tom  turned  in  late  that  night,  not  expecting  to 
sleep  much,  for  there  were  many  unusual  noises. 
But  he  did  drop  off  into  a  doze,  only  to  be 
awakened  about  an  hour  later  by  a  commotion 
on  deck. 

"What's  up,  Ned  ?"  he  called  to  his  chum,  who 
had  an  adjoining  stateroom. 

"I  don't  know,  Tom.  Something  is  going  on, 
though.  Hear  that  thumping  and  pounding!" 

As  Ned  spoke  there  came  a  tremendous  noise 
from  the  deck. 

"By  Jove!"  yelled  Tom,  jumping  from  his 
berth.  "It's  my  big  gun !  It  has  torn  loose  from 
the  lashings  and  may  roll  overboard !" 


CHAPTER   XXII 

AT  GATUN  LOCKS 

"STEADY  there  now,  men !  Pass  forward  those 
lashings !  Careful !  Look  out,  or  you'll  be  caught 
by  it  when  she  rolls!  Another  turn  around  the 
bitter 

It  was  the  officer  of  the  deck  giving  orders  to  a 
number  of  marines  and  sailors  as  Tom  hastily 
clad,  leaped  on  deck,  followed  by  his  chum.  The 
warship  was  pitching  and  tossing  worse  than 
ever  in  the  heaving  billows,  and  the  men  were 
engaged  in  making  fast  the  giant  cannon,  which, 
as  Tom  had  surmised,  had  torn  loose  from  the 
steel  cables  holding  it  down  on  deck. 

"Come  on,  Ned!"  cried  Tom.  "We've  got  to 
help  here !" 

"That's  right.  Look  at  her  swing,  would  you  ? 
If  she  hits  anything  it's  a  goner!" 

The  breech  of  the  gun  appeared  to  be  the  end 
that  had  come  loose,  while  the  muzzle  still  held 
fast  And  this  immense  mass  of  steel  was  swing- 

183 


184       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

ing  about,  eluding  the  efforts  of  the  ship's  offi- 
cers and  crew  to  capture  it.  And  it  seemed  only 
a  question  of  time  when  the  muzzle  would  tear 
loose,  too.  Then,  free  on  deck,  the  giant  cannon 
would  roll  through  the  frail  bulwarks,  and  plunge 
into  the  depths  of  the  sea, 

"Look  out  for  yourselves,  boys!"  cried  tHe 
officer,  as  he  saw  Tom  and  Ned.  "This  is  no 
plaything !" 

"I  know  it !"  gasped  Tom.  "But  we've  got  to 
faslen  it  down." 

"That's  what  we're  trying  to  do,"  answered 
the  other.  "We  did  get  the  bight  of  a  cable  over 
the  breech,  but  the  men  could  not  hold  it,  even 
though  they  took  a  couple  of  turns  around  the 
bitts." 

"Ned,  go  call  Koku!"  cried  Tom.  "We  need 
him  up  here." 

"That's  right!"  declared  his  chum.  "If  anyone 
can  hold  the  cable  with  the  weight  of  the  big  grn 
straining  on  it,  the  giant  can.  I'll  get  him!" 

"On  deck,  Koku,  quick !"  gasped  Ned  "Mas- 
ter's cannon  may  fall  into  the  sea." 

"But  the  powder !"  asked  the  big  man,  simply. 
"Master  told  me  to  guard  the  powder.  I  stay 
here." 

"No,  I'll  stay !"  insisted  Ned.  "You  are  needed 
on  deck,  I'll  take  your  place  here." 


AT  GATUN  LOCKS  185 

Koku  stared  uncomprehendingly  for  a  moment, 
while  the  loosened  gun  continued  to  thump  and 
pound  on  the  deck  as  though  it  would  burst 
through.  Then  it  filtered  through  the  dull  brain 
of  honest  Koku  what  was  wanted. 

"I  go,"  he  said,  and  he  hurried  up  the  com- 
panionway,  while  Ned,  eager  to  be  with  Tom, 
took  up  the  less  exciting  work  of  guarding  the 
powder. 

Once  more,  with  the  giant  strength  of  Koku 
to  aid  in  the  work,  the  task  of  lashing  the  gun 
again  to  the  deck  was  undertaken.  A  bight  of 
steel  cable  was  gotten  around  the  breech,  and  then 
passed  to  a  big  tritt,  or  stanchion,  bolted  to  the 
deck.  Koku,  working  on  the  heaving  deck,  amid 
the  hurricane,  took  a  turn  around  the  brace. 

There  came  a  roll  of  the  ship  that  threatened 
to  send  the  gun  sliding  against  the  stanchion,  but 
Koku  braced  himself.  His  arms,  great  bunches 
of  muscles,  strained  and  fairly  cracked  with  the 
strain.  The  wire  rope  seemed  to  give.  Then,  as 
the  ship  rolled  the  other  way,  the  strain  eased. 
Koku,  aided  by  the  cable,  and  by  the  leverage 
given  by  the  several  turns  about  the  bitts,  had 
held  the  big  gun. 

"Quick!"  cried  Tom.  "Now  another  rope  so 
it  can't  roll  the  opposite  way,  and  we'll  have  her." 

For  a  moment  the  ship  was  on  a  level  keel,  and. 


186       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

taking  advantage  of  this,  when  the  weight  of  th« 
gun  would  be  neutral,  another  cable  was  passed 
around  it  Then  it  was  a  comparatively  easy 
matter  to  put  on  more  lashings  until  the  giant 
cannon  was  once  more  fast 

"Whew!  But  that  was  tough  work!"  ex- 
claimed Tom,  as  he  once  more  entered  the  state* 
room  with  Ned. 

"It  must  have  been,"  agreed  his  chum,  who 
had  been  relieved  at  the  powder  station  by  the 
giant 

"I  thought  it  would  surely  go  overboard,"  went 
on  Tom.  "Only  for  Koku  it  would  have.  Those 
fellows  couldn't  hold  it  when  the  ship  rolled." 

"How  did  it  happen  to  get  loose  ?"  asked  Ned, 

"Oh,  the  cables  frayed,  I  suppose.  I'll  take  a 
look  in  the  morning.  Say,  but  this  is  some 
storm!" 

"Is  the  gun  all  right  now?" 

"Yes,  it's  fastened  down  like  a  mummy.  It 
can't  get  loose  unless  the  whole  deck  comes  with 
it  We  can  sleep  in  peace." 

"Not  much  sleep  in  this  blow,  I  guess,"  re- 
sponded Ned. 

But  they  did  manage  to  get  some  rest  by  morn- 
ing, at  which  time  the  hurricane  seemed  to  have 
blown  itself  out.  The  day  saw  the  sea  gradually 
calm  down,  and  the  big  cannon  was  made  addi- 


AT  GATUN  LOCKS  187 

tionaJly  secure  against  a  possible  recurrence  of  the 
accident.  But  a  few  days  more  and  it  would  be 
safe  at  Colon. 

Tom  and  Ned  had  gone  on  deck  soon  after 
breakfast  to  look  at  the  cannon.  All  about  were 
pieces  of  the  broken  cables,  that  had  been  cast 
aside  when  the  new  lashings  were  put  on.  Ned 
picked  up  one  end,  remarking: 

"These  seem  mighty  strong.  It's  queer  how 
they  broke." 

"Well,  there  was  quite  a  weight  upon  them," 
spoke  Tom. 

Ned  did  not  reply  for  a  moment.  Then,  as  he 
looked  at  another  piece  of  a  severed  cable,  he 
exclaimed : 

"Tom,  the  weight  of  your  gun  never  broke 
these." 

"What  do  you  mean,  Ned?" 

"I  mean  that  they  were  partly  filed,  or  cut 
through — then  the  storm  and  the  pressure  of  the 
gun  did  the  rest  Look!" 

He  held  out  the  piece  of  wire  rope.  There,  on 
the  end,  could  be  seen  several  strands  cleanly 
severed,  as  though  a  file  or  a  hack-saw  had  been 
used. 

"By  Jove  I"  murmured  Tom,  He  looked  about 
ihe  deck.  There  was  no  one  near  the  big  gun. 
"Ned,"  whispered  his  chum,  "there's  something 


188       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

wrong  here.  It's  more  of  that  conspiracy  to  de- 
feat my  aims.  Don't  say  anything  about  this, 
and  we'll  keep  our  eyes  open.  We'll  do  a  bit  of 
detective  work." 

"The  scoundrels!"  exclaimed  Ned.  "I  wish 
we  knew  who  they  were.  General  Waller  isn't 
aboard,  and  what  other  of  the  officers  has  a  gun 
of  his  own  that  he  would  rather  see  accepted  by 
the  government  than  yours  ?" 

"None  that  I  know  of,"  replied  Tom. 

"General  Waller  might  have  hired  someone 
*  »» 

"Don't  go  making  any  unwarranted  charges," 
warned  the  young  inventor. 

"Or  perhaps  that  German,  Tom,  might • 

"Hush!"  cautioned  Tom.  "Here  he  cornea 
now,"  and,  as  he  spoke,  General  von  Brunderger 
came  strolling  along  the  deck. 

"I  am  glad  to  see  that  the  accident  of  last  night 
had  no  serious  effects,"  he  said,  smiling. 

"It  was  no  accident !"  burst  out  Ned. 

"No  accident?  You  surprise  me.  I 
thought " 

"Oh,  Ned  means  that  some  of  the  cables  look 
as  though  they  had  been  cut,"  hastily  put  in  Tom, 
nudging  his  chum  in  the  ribs  as  a  signal  for  him 
to  keep  quiet 


AT  GATUN  "LOCKS  189 

"The  cables  cut!"  exclaimed  the  German,  and 
his  voice  indicated  anxious  solicitude. 

*°Or  else  filed/'  went  on  Tom  easily,  with  a 
warning  glance  at  Ned.  "But  I  dare  say  they 
were  old  cables,  that  had  been  used  on  other 
work,  and  may  have  become  frayed.  Everything 
is  safe  now,  though.  New  cables  were  lashed  on 
this  morning." 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  it.  It  would  be  a — er — ah, 
a  national  calamity  to  lose  so  valuable  a  gun,  and 
the  opening  of  the  canal  so  near  at  hand.  I  am 
glad  that  your  invention  is  safe,  Herr  Swift," 
and  he  smiled  genially  at  Tom  and  Ned. 

"What  did  you  shut  me  off  for?"  asked  Ned, 
when  he  and  his  chum  were  alone  in  their 
stateroom  again, 

"Because  I  didn't  want  you  to  make  any  breaks 
before  him,"  answered  Tom. 

"Then  you  suspect " 

"I  suspect  many  things,  Ned,  but  I'm  not 
going  to  show  my  hand  until  I'm  ready.  I'm 
going  to  watch  and  listen." 

"And  I'll  be  with  you." 

But  no  further  accidents  occurred.  There  were 
no  more  storms,  no  attempt  was  made  to  meddle 
with  Tom's  powder,  and  in  due  season  the  ship 
arrived  at  Colon,  and  after  much  labor  the  great 
gun,  its  carriage,  the  shells  and  the  powder  were 


190       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

taken  to  the  barbette  at  the  Gatun  locks,  designed 
to  admit  vessels  from  the  Caribbean  Sea  into 
Gatun  Lake. 

"And  now  for  some  more  hard  work,"  re- 
marked Tom,  as  all  the  needful  stores  were 
landed. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

NEWS  OF  THE  MINE 

"Jusx  a  little  farther  over  this  way,  Ned. 
That's  better.  Now  mark  it  there,  and  we'll  have 
it  clamped  down." 

"But  can  you  get  enough  elevation  here, 
Tom?" 

"Oh,  yes,  I  think  so.  Besides,  I've  added  a  few 
more  inches  to  the  lift  of  the  disappearing  car- 
riage, and  it  will  send  the  gun  so  much  farther 
in  the  air.  I  think  this  will  do.  Where  is 
Koku?" 

"Here  I  be,  Master." 

"Just  get  hold  of  that  small  derrick,  Koku,  and 
lift  up  one  of  the  projectiles.  I  want  to  see  if  they 
come  in  the  right  place  for  the  breech  before  I 
set  the  hoisting  apparatus  permanently." 

The  giant  was  soon  engaged  in  winding  up  the 
rope  of  an  improvised  hoist  that  stood  about  in 
the  position  the  permanent  one  was  to  go.  From 
the  interior  of  the  barbette,  which  was,  in  effect, 

IQI 


192       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

a  bomt>proof  structure,  there  was  lifted  one  of 
the  big  projectiles  destined  to  be  hurled  from 
Tom  Swift's  giant  cannon. 

"Yes,  I  think  that  will  do,"  decided  the  young 
inventor,  as  he  watched  Koku.  "Now,  Mr. 
Damon,  if  you  will  kindly  oversee  this  part  of  the 
work,  I'll  see  if  we  can't  get  that  motor  in  better 
shape.  It  didn't  work  worth  a  cent  this 
morning." 

"Bless  my  rubber  coat,  Tom,  I'll  do  all  I  can 
to  help  you!"  declared  the  odd  man. 

"Massa  Tom !    Massa  Tom !"  called  Eradicate. 

"Yes,  Rad.    What  is  it?" 

"Heah  am  dem  chicken  sandwiches,  an'  some 
hot  coffee  fo'  yo*  all.  I  done  knowed  yo'  all 
wouldn't  hab  no  time  t*  stop  fo'  dinnah,  so  I  done 
made  yo'  all  up  a  snack." 

"That's  mighty  good  of  you,  Rad,"  spoke  Tom, 
with  a  laugh.  "I  was  getting  pretty  hungry :  but 
I  didn't  want  to  stop  until  I  had  things  moving 
in  better  shape.  Come  on,  Ned,  let's  knock  off  for 
a  few  minutes  and  take  a  bite.  You,  too,  Mr. 
Damon." 

As  they  sat  about  the  place  where  the  gun  was 
being  mounted,  munching  sandwiches  and  drink- 
ing the  coffee  which  the  aged  colored  man  had  so 
thoughtfully  provided,  Eradicate  said,  with  a 
chuckle : 


NEWS  OF  THE  MINE  193 

"By  gar!  Dey  can't  git  erlong  wifout  distt 
yeah  coon,  arter  all!  Ha!  ha!  Dat  cocoanut 
giant  he  mighty  good  when  it  comes  t'  fastening 
big  guns  down  so  dey  won't  blow  away,  but  when 
it  comes  t'  eatin'  dey  has  t'  depend  on  ole  Eradi- 
cate !  Ha !  ha !  I'se  got  dat  cocoanut  giant  beat 
all  right!" 

"He  sure  is  jealous  of  Koku,"  remarked  Ned, 
as  Tom  and  Mr.  Damon  smiled  at  the  colored 
man. 

"He  certainly  hit  me  in  the  right  spot," 
declared  Tom,  as  he  reached  for  another 
sandwich. 

They  had  landed  from  the  warship  several 
days  before,  and  from  then  on  there  had  been 
hard  work  and  plenty  of  it  Tom  was  here,  there 
and  everywhere,  directing  matters  so  that  his  gun 
would  be  favorably  placed. 

Some  preliminary  work  had  been  done  before 
they  arrived  in  the  way  of  preparing  a  place  to 
mount  the  gun,  and  this  work  was  now  proceed- 
ing. The  officers  of  the  ordnance  department 
were  in  actual  charge,  but  they  always  deferred 
to  Tom,  since  he  had  most  at  stake. 

"It  will  be  some  days  before  you  can  actually 
fire  your  gun;  will  it  not?"  asked  Ned  of  his 
chum,  as  they  finished  the  lunch,  and  prepared  to 
resume  work. 


194       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Yes — a  week  at  least,  I  expect.  It  is  taking 
longer  to  set  up  the  carriage  than  I  thought  But 
it  will  be  an  improvement  over  the  solid  one  we 
formerly  used.  That  was  fine,  Rad,"  he  con- 
.cluded  as  the  colored  man  went  back  to  the  sh*ck 
of  which  he  had  taken  possession  for  himself  and 
his  cooking  operations.  It  adjoined  the  quarters 
to  which  Tom,  Ned,  Mr.  Damon  and  Koku  had 
been  assigned. 

"Golly !  I  ain't  so  old  yit  but  what  I  knows 
de  stuff  Massa  Tom  laiks !"  exclaimed  the  colored 
man,  moving  off  with  a  chuckle. 

Tom,  though  he  had  many  suspicions  about  the 
cut  cables  that  had  nearly  been  the  cause  of  his 
gun  sliding  into  the  sea,  had  learned  nothing 
definite — nor  had  Ned. 

The  German  officer,  with  his  body  servant,  who 
seldom  spoke,  had  landed  at  Colon,  and  was  pro- 
ceeding to  make  himself  at  home  with  the  officers 
and  men  who  were  building  the  canal.  Occa- 
sionally he  paid  a  visit  to  Tom  and  Ned,  where 
they  were  engaged  about  the  big  gun.  He  always 
seemed  pleasant,  and  interested  in  their  labors, 
asking  many  question,  but  that  was  all,  and  our 
hero  began  to  feel  that  perhaps  he  was  wrong  in 
his  suspicions. 

As  for  Ned,  he  veered  uncertainly  from  one 
suspicion  to  another.  At  one  time  he  declared 


NEWS  OF  THE  MINE  195 

that  von  Brunderger  and  General  Waller  were  in 
a  conspiracy  to  upset  Tom's  plans.  Again  he 
would  accuse  the  German  alone,  until  Tom  laugh- 
ingly bade  him  attend  more  to  work  and  less  to 
theories. 

Slowly  the  work  progressed.  The  gtin  was 
mounted  after  much  labor,  and  then  arrange- 
ments began  to  be  made  for  the  test.  A  series  of 
shots  were  to  be  fired  out  to  sea,  and  the  proper 
precautions  were  to  be  taken  to  prevent  any  ships 
from  being  struck. 

"Though  if  you  intend  to  send  a  projectile 
thirty  miles,"  said  one  of  the  officers,  "I'm  afraid 
there  may  be  some  danger,  after  all.  Are  you 
sure  you  have  a  range  of  thirty  miles,  Mr. 
Swift?" 

"I  have."  answered  Tom,  calmly,  "and  with 
the  increased  elevation  that  I  am  able  to  get  here, 
it  may  exceed  that." 

The  officer  said  nothing,  but  he  looked  at  Tom 
in  what  our  hero  thought  was  a  peculiar  manner. 

A  few  days  before  the  date  set  for  the  test  one 
of  the  sentinels,  who  had  been  detailed  to  keep 
curiosity-seekers  away  from  the  giant  cannon, 
approached  Tom  and  said: 

"There  is  a  gentleman  asking  to  see  you,  Mr. 
Swift" 


196       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Who  is  it?"  asked  Tom,  laying  aside  a 
pressure  gauge  he  intended  attaching  to  the  gun, 

"He  says  his  name  is  Peterson — Alec  Peterson. 
Do  you  want  to  see  him?" 

"Yes,  let  him  come  up,"  directed  the  young 
inventor.  "Do  you  hear  that,  Ned?"  he  called. 
"Our  fortune-hunting  friend  is  here." 

"Maybe  he's  found  that  lost  opal  mine," 
suggested  Ned. 

"I  hope  he  has,  for  dad's  sake,"  went  on  Tom. 
"Hello,  Mr.  Peterson!"  he  called,  as  he  noticed 
the  old  prospector  coming  along.  "Have  you  had 
any  luck?" 

"I  heard  you  were  down  here,"  said  the  man, 
not  answering  the  question  directly,  "and  as  I 
had  to  run  over  from  my  island  for  some  supplies 
I  thought  I'd  stop  and  see  you.  How  are  you?" 
and  he  shook  hands. 

"Fine !"  answered  Tom.  "Have  you  found  the 
lost  mine  yet?" 

Alec  Peterson  paused  a  moment  Then  he  said 
slowly : 

"No,  Tom,  I  haven't  succeeded  in  locating  the 
mine  yet.  But  I — I  expect  to  any  day  now  1"  he 
added,  hastily. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

THE  LONGEST  SHOT 

"WELL,  Mr.  Peterson,"  remarked  Tom,  after  a 
pause,  "I'm  sure  I  hope  you  will  succeed  in  your 
quest.  You  must  have  met  disappointment  so 
far." 

"I  have,  Tom.  But  I'm  not  going  to  give  up. 
Can't  you  come  over  and  see  me  before  you  go 
back  North?" 

"I'll  try.    Just  where  is  your  island?" 

"Off  in  that  direction,"  responded  the  fortune- 
hunter,  pointing  to  the  northeast.  "It's  a  little 
farther  from  here  than  I  thought  it  was  at  first — 
about  thirty  miles.  But  I  have  a  little  second- 
hand steam  launch  that  my  pardners  and  I  use. 
I'H  come  for  you,  take  you  over  and  bring  you 
back  any  time  you  say." 

"After  my  gun  has  been  tested,"  said  Tom, 
with  a  smile.  "Better  stay  and  see  it" 

"No,  I  must  get  back  to  the  island.    I  have 

197 


198       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

some  new  information  that  I  am  sure  will  enaWc 
me  to  locate  the  lost  mine." 

"Well,  good-bye,  and  good  luck  to  you,"  called 
Tom,  as  the  fortune-hunter  started  away. 

"Do  you  think  he'll  ever  find  the  opals,  Tom?" 
asked  Ned. 

His  chum  shook  his  head. 

"I  don't  believe  so,"  he  answered.  "Alec  hac 
always  been  that  way — always  visionary — alway* 
just  about  to  be  successful;  but  never  quite 
getting  there." 

"Then  your  father's  ten  thousand  dollars  will 
be  lost?" 

"Yes,  I  suppose  so;  but,  in  a  way,  dad  can 
stand  it  And  if  I  make  good  on  this  gun  test, 
ten  thousand  dollars  won't  look  very  big  to  me. 
I  guess  dad  gave  it  to  Alec  from  a  sort  of 
sentimental  feeling,  anyhow." 

"You  mean  because  he  saved  you  from  the  live 
wire?" 

"That's  it,  Ned.  It  was  a  sort  of  reward,  in 
a  way,  and  I  guess  dad  won't  be  broken-hearted 
if  Alec  doesn't  succeed.  Only,  of  course,  he'll 
feel  badly  for  Alec  himself.  Poor  old  man!  he' 
won't  be  able  to  do  much  more  prospecting. 
Well,  Ned,  let's  get  to  work  on  that  ammunition 
hoist.  It  still  jams  a  little  on  the  ways,  and  I 
want  it  to  work  smoothly.  There's  no  use  having 


THE  LONGEST  SHOT  199 

a  hitch — even  a  small  one — when  the  big  bugs 
assemble  to  see  how  my  cannon  shoots." 

"That's  right,  Tom,  Well,  start  off,  I'm  with 
you." 

The  two  youths  labored  for  some  time,  being 
helped,  of  course,  by  the  workmen  provided  by 
the  government,  and  some  from  the  steel  concern. 

There  were  many  little  details  to  look  after, 
not  the  least  of  which  was  the  patrolling  of  the 
stretch  of  ocean  over  which  the  great  projectiles 
would  soar  in  reaching  the  far-off  targets  at 
which  Tom  had  planned  to  shoot.  No  ships  were 
to  be  allowed  to  cross  the  thirty-mile  mark  while 
the  firing  was  in  progress.  So,  also,  the  zone 
where  the  shots  were  expected  to  fall  was  to  be 
cleared. 

But  at  last  all  seemed  in  readiness.  The  gun 
had  been  tried  again  and  again  on  its  carriage. 
The  projectiles  were  all  in  readiness,  and  the 
terribly  powerful  ammunition  had  been  stored 
below  the  gun  in  a  bomib-proof  chamber,  ready  to 
be  hoisted  out  as  needed. 

Because  the  gun  had  been  fired  so  many  times 
with  a  charge  of  powder  heavier  than  was  ordi- 
narily called  for,  and  had  stood  the  strain  well, 
Tom  had  no  fear  of  standing  reasonably  close  to 
it  to  press  the  button  of  the  battery.  There  would 
be  no  retreating  to  the  bomb-proof  this  time. 


200       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

The  German  officer  was  occasionally  seen  about 
the  place  where  the  gun  was  mounted,  but  he 
appeared  to  take  only  an  ordinary  interest  in  it. 
Tom  began  to  feel  more  than  ever  that  perhaps 
his  suspicions  were  unfounded. 

Some  officials  high  in  government  affairs  had 
arrived  at  Colon  in  anticipation  of  the  test,  which, 
to  Tom's  delight,  had  attracted  more  attention 
than  he  anticipated.  At  the  same  time  he  was  a 
bit  nervous. 

"Suppose  it  fails,  Ned?"  he  said. 

"Oh,  it  can't !"  cried  his  chum.  "Don't  think 
about  such  a  thing." 

Plans  had  been  made  for  a  ship  to  be  stationed 
near  the  zone  of  fire,  to  report  by  wireless  the 
character  of  each  shot,  the  distance  it  traveled, 
and  how  near  it  came  to  the  target.  The  mes- 
sages would  be  received  at  a  station  near  the 
barbette,  and  at  once  reported  to  Tom,  so  that  he 
would  know  how  the  test  was  progressing. 

"Well,  to-day  tells  the  tale!"  exclaimed  the 
young  inventor,  as  he  got  up  one  morning. 
"How's  the  weather,  Ned?" 

"Couldn't  be  better — clear  as  a  bell,  Tom." 

"That's  good.  Well,  let's  have  grub,  and  then 
go  out  and  see  how  my  pet  is." 

"Oh,  I  guess  nothing  could  happen,  with  Koku 
on  guard." 


THE  LONGEST  SHOT  201 

"No,  hardly.  I'm  going  to  keep  him  in  th*e 
ammunition  room  until  after  the  test,  too.  I'm 
going  to  take  no  chances." 

"That's  the  ticket!" 

The  gun  was  found  all  right,  in  its  great 
tarpaulin  cover,  and  Tom  had  the  latter  taken  off 
that  he  might  go  over  every  bit  of  mechanism. 
He  made  a  few  slight  changes,  and  then  got 
ready  for  the  final  trials. 

On  an  improvised  platform,  not  too  near  the 
giant  cannon,  had  gathered  the  ordnance  board, 
the  specially  invited  guests,  a  number  of  officers 
and  workers  in  the  canal  zone,  and  one  or  two 
representatives  of  foreign  governments.  Von 
Brunderger  was  there,  but  his  "familiar,"  as  Ned 
had  come  to  call  the  stolid  German  servant,  was 
not  present. 

Tom  took  some  little  time  to  explain,  modestly 
enough,  the  working  of  his  gun.  A  number  of 
questions  were  asked,  and  then  it  was  announced 
that  the  first  shot,  with  only  a  practice  charge  of 
powder,  would  be  fired. 

"Careful  with  that  projectile  now.  That's  it, 
slip  it  in  carefully.  A  little  farther  forward. 
That's  better.  Now  the  powder — Koku,  are  you 
down  there?"  and  Tom  called  down  the  tube  into 
the  ammunition  chamber. 

"Me  here,  Master,"  was  the  reply. 


202       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON. 

"All  right,  send  up  a  practice  load." 

Slowly  the  powerful  explosive  came  up  on  tfic 
electric  hoist.  It  was  placed  in  the  firing  chamber 
and  the  breech  dosed. 

"Now,  gentlemen,"  said  Tom,  "this  is  not  a 
shot  for  distance.  It  is  merely  to  try  the  gun, 
and  get  it  warmed  up,  so  to  speak,  for  the  real 
tests  that  will  follow.  All  ready?" 

"All  ready!"  answered  Ned,  who  was  acting 
as  chief  assistant. 

"Here  she  goes!"  cried  Tom,  and  he  pressed 
the  button. 

Many  were  astonished  by  the  great  report,  but 
Tom  and  the  others,  who  were  used  to  the  service 
charges,  hardly  noticed  this  one.  Yet  when  the 
wireless  report  came  in,  giving  the  range  as  over 
fourteen  thousand  yards,  there  was  a  gasp  of 
surprise. 

"Over  eight  miles!"  declared  one  grizzled 
officer;  "and  that  with  only  a  practice  charge. 
What  will  happen  when  he  puts  in  a  full  one  ?" 

"I  don't  know,"  answered  a  friend. 

Tom  soon  showed  them.  Quickly  he  called 
for  another  projectile,  and  it  was  inserted  in  the 
gun.  Then  the  powder  began  to  come  up  the 
hoist.  Meanwhile  the  young  inventor  had  as- 
sured himself  that  the  gun  was  all  right.  Not  a 
part  had  been  strained. 


THE  LONGEST  SHOT  203 

This  time,  when  Tom  pressed  the  button  there 
was  such  a  tremendous  concussion  that  several, 
who  were  not  prepared  for  it,  were  knocked  back 
against  their  neighbors  or  sent  toppling  off  their 
chairs  or  benches.  And  as  for  the  report,  it  was 
so  deafening  that  for  a  long  time  after  it  many 
could  not  hear  well. 

But  Tom,  and  those  who  knew  the  awful  power 
of  the  big  cannon,  wore  specially  prepared  ear- 
drum protectors,  that  served  to  reduce  the  shock. 

"What  is  it?"  called  Tom  to  the  wireless  opera- 
tor, who  was  receiving  the  range  distance  from 
the  marking  ship. 

"A  little  less  than  twenty-nine  miles." 

"We  must  do  better  than  that,"  said  Tom.  "I'll 
use  more  powder,  and  try  one  of  the  newer  shells. 
I'll  elevate  the  gun  a  trifle,  too." 

Again  came  that  terrific  report,  that  trembling 
of  the  ground,  that  concussion,  that  blast  of  air  as 
it  rushed  in  to  fill  the  vacuum  caused,  and  then 
the  vibrating  echoes. 

"I  think  you  must  have  gone  the  limit  this 
time,  Tom!"  yelled  Ned,  as  he  turned  on  the 
compressed  air  to  blow  the  powder  fumes  and 
unconsumed  bits  of  explosive  from  the  gun  tube. 

"Possibly,"  admitted  Tom.  "Here  comes  the 
report."  The  wireless  operator  waved  a  slip  of 
paper. 


204       TOM  SWIFT  'AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

"Thirty-one  miles!"  he  announced. 

"Hurray!"  cried  Mr.  Damon.  "Bless  my 
telescope!  The  longest  shot  on  record!" 

"I  believe  it  is,"  admitted  the  chief  of  the 
ordnance  department.  "I  congratulate  you,  Mr. 
Swift." 

"I  think  I  can  do  better  than  that,"  declared 
Tom,  after  looking  at  the  various  recording- 
gauges,  and  noting  the  elevation  of  the  gun.  "1 
think  I  can  get  a  little  flatter  trajectory,  and  that 
will  give  a  greater  distance.  I'm  going  to  try." 

"Does  that  mean  more  powder,  Tom?"  asked 
Ned. 

"Yes,  and  the  heaviest  shell  we  have — the  one 
with  the  bursting  charge.  I'll  fire  that,  and  see 
what  happens.  Tell  the  zone-ship  to  be  on  the 
lookout,"  he  said  to  the  wireless  operator,  giving 
a  brief  statement  of  what  he  was  about  to  attempt. 

"Isn't  it  a  risk,  Tom?"  his  chum  asked. 

"Well,  not  so  much.  I'm  sure  my  cannon  will 
stand  it.  Come  on  now,  help  me  depress  the 
muzzle  just  a  trifle,"  and  by  means  of  the  electric 
current  the  big  gun  was  raised  at  the  breech  a  few 
inches. 

As  is  well  known,  cannon  shots  do  not  go  in 
straight  lines.  They  leave  the  muzzle,  curve  up- 
ward and  come  down  on  another  curve.  It  is  this 
curve  described  by  the  projectile  that  is  called  the 


THE  LONGEST  SHOT  205 

trajectory.  The  upward  curve,  as  you  all  know, 
is  caused  by  the  force  of  the  powder,  and  the 
downward  by  the  force  of  gravitation  acting  on 
the  shot  as  soon  as  it  reaches  its  zenith.  Were  it 
not  for  this  force  the  projectiles  could  be  fired  in 
straight  lines.  But,  as  it  is,  the  cannon  has  to  be 
elevated  to  send  the  shot  up  a  bit,  or  it  would  fall 
short  of  its  mark. 

Consequently,  the  flatter  the  trajectory  the 
farther  it  will  go.  Tom's  object,  then,  was  to 
flatten  the  trajectory,  by  lowering  the  muzzle  of 
the  gun,  in  order  to  attain  greater  distance. 

"If  this  doesn't  do  the  trick,  we'll  try  it  with 
the  muzzle  a  bit  lower,  and  with  a  trifle  more 
powder,"  he  said  to  Ned,  as  He  was  about  to  fire. 

The  young  inventor  was  not  a  little  nervous  as 
he  prepared  to  press  the  button  this  time.  It  was 
a  heavier  charge  than  any  used  that  day,  though 
the  same  quantity  had  been  fired  on  other 
occasions  with  safety.  But  he  was  not  going  to 
hesitate. 

Coincident  with  the  pressure  of  Tom's  fingers 
there  seemed  to  be  a  veritable  earthquake.  The 
ground  swayed  and  rocked,  and  a  number  of  the 
spectators  staggered  back.  It  was  like  the  blast 
of  a  hundred  thunderbolts.  The  gun  shook  as  it 
recoiled  from  the  shock,  but  the  wonderful  disap- 


206       TOM  SWIFT  'AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

pearing  carriage,  fitted  with  coiled,  pneumatic 
and  hydrostatic  buffers,  stood  the  strain. 

Following  the  awful  report,  the  terrific  recoil 
and  the  howl  of  the  wind  as  it  rushed  into  the 
vacuum  created,  there  was  an  intense  silence.  The 
projectile  had  been  seen  by  some  as  a  dark  speck, 
rushing  through  the  air  like  a  meteor.  Then  the 
wireless  operator  could  be  seen  writing  down  a 
message,  the  telephone-like  receivers  clamped 
over  his  ears. 

"Something  happened,  all  right!"  he  called 
aloud.  "That  shot  hit  something." 

"Not  one  of  the  ships!"  cried  Tom,  aghast. 

"I  don't  know.  There  seems  to  be  some 
difficulty  in  transmitting.  Wait — I'm  getting  it 
now." 

As  he  ceased  speaking  there  came  from  under- 
neath the  great  gun  the  sound  of  confused 
shouts.  Tom  and  Ned  recognized  Koku's  voice 
protesting : 

"No — no — you  can't  come  in  here!  Master 
said  no  one  was  to  come  in." 

"What  is  it,  Koku  ?"  yelled  Tom,  springing  to 
the  speaking  tube  connecting  with  the  powder 
magazine,  at  the  same  time  keeping  an  eye  on 
the  wireless  operator.  Tom  was  torn  between 
two  anxieties. 

"Someone    here,    Master!"    cried    the   giant 


THE  LONGEST  SHOT  207 

"Him  try  to  fix  powder.  Ah,  I  fix  you!"  and 
with  a  savage  snarl  the  giant,  in  the  concrete 
chamber  below,  could  be  heard  to  attack  someone 
who  cried  out  gutturally  in  German : 

"Help!     Help!    Help!" 

"Come  on,  Ned!"  cried  Tom,  making  a  dasK 
for  the  stairs  that  led  into  the  magazine.  There 
was  confusion  all  about,  but  through  it  all  the 
wireless  operator  continued  to  write  down  the 
message  coming  to  him  through  space. 

"What  is  it,  Koku?  What  is  it?"  cried  Tom, 
plunging  down  into  the  little  chamber. 

As  he  reached  it,  a  door  leading  to  the  outer  air 
flew  open,  and  out  rushed  a  man,  badly  torn  as  to 
his  clothes,  and  scratched  and  bleeding  as  to  his 
face.  On  he  ran,  across  the  space  back  of  the 
barbette,  toward  the  lower  tier  of  seats  that  had 
been  erected  for  the  spectators. 

"It's  von  Brunderger's  servant!"  gasped  Ned, 
recognizing  the  fellow. 

"What  did  he  do,  Koku?"  demanded  the  young 
inventor. 

"Him  sneak  in  here — have  some  of  that  stuff 
you  call  'dope/  I  sent  up  powder,  and  I  come 
back  here  to  see  him  try  to  put  some  dope  in 
Master's  ammunition," 

"The  scoundrel !"  cried  Tom.    "They're  trying 


208       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON. 

to  break  me,  even  at  the  last  minute !  Come  on, 
Ned." 

They  raced  outside  to  behold  a  curious  sight. 
Straight  toward  von  Brunderger  rushed  the  man 
as  if  in  a  frenzy  of  fear.  He  called  out  something 
in  German  to  his  master,  and  the  tetter's  face 
went  first  red,  then  white.  He  was  observed  to 
look  about  quickly,  as  though  in  alarm,  and  then, 
with  a  shout  at  his  servant,  the  German  officer 
rushed  from  the  stand,  and  the  two  disappeared 
in  the  direction  of  the  barracks. 

"What  does  it  mean?"  cried  Ned. 

"Give  it  up,"  answered  Tom,  "except  that 
Koku  spoiled  their  trick,  whatever  it  was.  It 
looks  as  if  this  was  the  end  of  it,  and  that  the 
mystery  has  been  cleared  up." 

"Mr.  Swift!  Where's  Mr.  Swift?"  shouted 
the  wireless  operator.  "Where  are  you  ?" 

"Yes;  what  is  it?"  demanded  Tom,  so  excited 
that  he  hardly  knew  what  he  was  doing. 

"The  longest  shot  on  record!"  cried  the  man. 
"Thirty-three  miles,  and  it  struck,  exploded,  and 
blew  the  top  off  a  mountain  on  an  island  out 
there!"  and  he  pointed  across  the  sun-lit  sea. 


CHAPTER   XXV 

THE  LONG-LOST  MINE 

THERE  was  a  silence  after  the  inspiring  words 
of  the  operator,  and  then  it  seemed  that  everyone 
began  to  talk  at  once.  The  record-breaking  shot, 
the  effect  of  it  and  the  struggle  that  had  taken 
place  in  the  powder  room,  together  with  the  flight 
of  von  Brunderger  and  his  servant,  gave  many 
subjects  for  excited  conversation. 

"I've  got  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  this !"  cried 
Tom,  making  his  way  through  the  press  of  offi- 
cials to  where  the  wireless  operator  stood.  "Just 
repeat  that,"  requested  Tom,  and  they  all  gave 
place  for  him,  waiting  for  the  answer. 

The  operator  read  the  message  again. 

"Thirty-three  miles !"  murmured  Tom.  "That 
is  better  than  I  dared  to  hope.  But  what's  that 
about  blowing  the  top  off  an  island  ?" 

"That's  what  you  did,  with  that  explosive  shell, 
Mr.  Swift.  The  operator  on  the  firing-zone  ship 

209 


210       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

saw  the  top  fly  off  when  the  shell  struck.  The 
ship  was  about  half  a  mile  away,  and  when  they 
heard  that  shell  coming  the  officers  thought  it 
was  all  up  with  them.  But,  instead,  it  passed 
over  them  and  demolished  the  top  of  the 
mountain." 

"Anybody  hurt?"  asked  Tom,  anxiously. 

"No,  it  was  an  uninhabited  island.  But  you 
have  made  the  record  shot,  all  right.  It  went 
farther  than  any  of  the  others." 

"Then  I  suppose  I  ought  to  be  satisfied," 
remarked  Tom,  with  a  smile. 

"What  was  that  disturbance,  Mr.  Swift?" 
asked  the  chief  ordnance  officer,  coming  forward 

"I  don't  understand  it  myself,"  replied  the 
young  inventor.  "It  appeared  that  someone  went 
into  the  ammunition  room,  and  Koku,  my  giant 
servant,  attacked  him." 

"As  he  had  a  right  to  do.  But  who  was  the 
intruder?" 

"Herr  von  Brunderger's  man." 

'"Ha!  That  German  officer's!  Where  is  he, 
he  must  explain  this." 

But  Herr  von  Brunderger  was  not  to  be  found, 
nor  was  his  man  in  evidence.  They  had  fled,  and 
when  a  search  was  made  of  their  rooms,  damag- 
ing evidence  was  found.  Before  a  board  of 
investigating  officers  Koku  told  his  story,  after 


THE  LONG-LOST  MINE  21  r 

the  gun  tests  had  been  declared  off  for  the  day, 
they  having  been  most  satisfactory. 

The  German  officer's  servant,  it  appeared,  had 
managed  to  gain  entrance  to  the  ammunition 
chamber  by  means  of  a  false  key  to  the  outer 
door.  There  were  two  entrances,  the  other  being 
from  the  top  of  the  platform  where  the  cannon 
rested.  Koku  had  seen  him  about  to  throw  some- 
thing into  one  of  the  ammunition  cases,  and  had 
grappled  with  him.  There  was  a  fight,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  giant's  strength,  the  man  had  slipped 
away,  leaving  part  of  his  garments  in  the  grasp 
of  Koku. 

An  investigation  of  some  of  the  powder  showed 
that  it  had  been  covered  with  a  chemical  that 
would  have  made  it  explode  prematurely  when 
placed  in  the  gun.  It  would  probably  have 
wrecked  the  cannon  by  blowing  out  the  breech 
block,  and  might  have  done  serious  damage  to 
life  as  well  as  property. 

"But  what  was  the  object?"  asked  Ned. 

"To  destroy  Tom's  gun,"  declared  Mr. 
Damon. 

'"Why  should  von  Brunderger  want  to  do 
that?" 

They  found  the  answer  among  his  papers.  He 
had  been  a  German  officer  of  high  rank,  but  had 
been  dismissed  from  the  secret  service  of  his 


212       TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

country  for  bad  conduct.  Then,  it  appeared,  he 
thought  of  the  plan  of  doing  some  damage  to  a 
foreign  country  in  order  to  get  back  in  the  good 
graces  of  his  Fatherland. 

He  forged  documents  of  introduction  and  au- 
thority, and  was  received  with  courtesy  by  the 
United  States  officials.  In  some  way  he  heard  of 
Tom's  gun,  and  that  it  was  likely  to  be  so  suc- 
cussful  that  it  would  be  adopted  by  the  United 
States  government.  This  he  wanted  to  prevent, 
and  he  went  to  great  lengths  to  accomplish  this. 
It  was  he,  or  an  agent  of  his,  who  forged  the 
letter  of  invitation  to  General  Waller,  and  who 
first  tried  to  spoil  Tom's  test  by  doping  the 
powder  through  Koku. 

Later  he  tried  other  means,  sending  a  midnight 
visitor  to  Tom's  house  and  even  going  to  the 
length  of  filing  the  cables  in  the  storm,  so  the  gun 
would  roll  off  the  warship  into  the  sea.  All  this 
was  found  set  down  in  his  papers,  for  he  kept  a 
record  of  what  he  had  done  in  order  to  prove  his 
case  to  his  own  government.  It  was  his  servant 
who  tried  to  get  near  the  gun  while  it  was  being 
cast. 

That  he  would  be  restored  to  favor  had  he 
succeeded,  was  an  open  question,  though  with 
Germany's  friendliness  toward  the  United  States 


THE  LONG-LOST  MINE  213 

it  is  probable  that  his  acts  would  have  been 
repudiated.  But  he  was  desperate. 

Failing  in  many  attempts  he  resolved  on  a  last 
one.  He  sent  his  servant  to  the  ammunition  room 
to  "dope"  the  powder,  hoping  that,  at  the  next 
shot,  the  gun  would  be  ruined.  Perhaps  he 
hoped  to  disable  Tom.  But  the  plot  failed,  and 
the  conspirators  escaped.  They  were  never  heard 
of  again,  probably  leaving  Panama  under  assumed 
names  and  in  disguise. 

"Well,  that  explains  the  mystery,"  said  Tom 
to  Ned  a  few  days  later.  "I  guess  we  won't  have 
to  worry  any  more." 

"No,  and  I'm  sorry  I  suspected  General 
Waller." 

"Oh,  well,  he'll  never  know  it,  so  no  harm  is 
done.  Oh,  but  I'm  glad  this  is  over.  It  has 
gotten  on  my  nerves." 

"I  should  say  so,"  agreed  Ned. 

"Bless  my  pillow  sham!"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 
"I  think  I  can  get  a  good  night's  sleep  now.  So 
they  have  formally  accepted  your  giant  cannon, 
Tom?" 

"Yes.  The  last  tests  I  gave  them,  showing 
how  easily  it  could  be  manipulated,  convinced 
them.  It  will  be  one  of  the  official  defense  guns 
of  the  Panama  Canal." 

"Good!     I  congratulate  you,  my  boy!"  cried 


214       TOM  SWIFT  'AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

the  odd  man.  "And  now,  bless  my  postage 
stamp,  let's  get  back  to  the  United  States." 

"Before  we  go,"  suggested  Ned,  "let's  go  takes 
a  look  at  that  island  from  which  Tom  blew  the 
top.  It  must  be  quite  a  sight — and  thirty-three 
miles  away!  We  can  get  a  launch  and  go  out." 

But  there  was  no  need.  That  same  day  Alec 
Peterson  came  to  Colon  inquiring  for  Tom.  His 
face  showed  a  new  delight. 

"Why,"  cried  Tom,  "you  look  as  though  you 
had  found  your  opal  mine." 

"I  have!"  exclaimed  the  fortune-hunter.  "Or, 
rather,  Tom,  I  think  I  have  you  to  thank  for 
finding  it  for  me." 

"Me  find  it?" 

"Yes.  Did  you  hear  about  the  tqp  of  the 
island-mountain  you  blew  to  pieces?" 

"We  did,  but " 

"That  was  my  island!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Peter- 
son. "The  mine  was  in  that  mountain,  but  an 
earthquake  had  covered  it.  I  should  never  have 
found  it  but  for  you.  That  shot  you  accidentally 
fired  ripped  the  mountain  apart.  My  men  and  I| 
were  fortunately  at  the  base  of  it  then,  but  we' 
sure  thought  our  time  had  come  when  that  shell 
struck.  It  went  right  over  our  heads.  But  it 
did  the  business,  all  right,  and  opened  up  the  old 
mine.  Tom,  your  father  won't  lose  his  money — • 


THE  LONG-LOST  MINE  215 

we'll  all  be  rich.  Oh,  that  was  a  lucky  shot!  I 
knew  it  was  your  cannon  that  did  it." 

"I'm  glad  of  it !"  answered  the  young  inventor, 
heartily.  "Glad  for  your  sake,  Mr.  Peterson." 

"You  must  come  and  see  the  mine — your  mine, 
Tom,  for  it  never  would  have  been  rediscovered 
had  it  not  been  for  your  giant  cannon,  that  made 
the  longest  shot  on  record,  so  I'm  told." 

"We  will  come,  Mr.  Peterson,  just  as  soon  as 
I  close  up  matters  here." 

It  did  not  take  Tom  long  to  do  this.  His  type 
of  cannon  was  formally  accepted  as  a  defense  for 
tbe  Panama  Canal,  and  he  received  a  fine  contract 
to  allow  that  type  to  be  used  by  the  government. 
His  powder  and  projectiles,  too,  were  adopted. 

Then,  one  day,  he  and  Ned,  with  Koku  and 
Mr.  Damon,  visited  the  scene  of  the  great  shot. 
As  Mr.  Peterson  had  said,  the  whole  top  of  the 
mountain  had  been  blown  off  by  the  explosive 
shell,  opening  up  the  old  mine.  While  it  was  not 
quite  as  rich  as  Mr.  Peterson  had  glowingly 
painted,  still  there  was  a  fortune  in  it,  and  Mr. 
Swift  got  back  a  substantial  sum  for  his 
investment. 

"And  now  for  the  good  old  U.  S.  A. !"  cried 
Tom,  as  they  got  ready  to  go  back  home.  "I'm 
going  to  take  a  long  rest,  and  the  only  thing  I'm 
going  to  invent  for  the  next  six  months  is  a  new 


2l6       TOM  SWIFT  'AND  'HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

potato  slicer."  But  whether  Tom  kept  his  words 
can  be  learned  by  reading  the  next  volume  of  this 
series. 

"Bless  my  hand  towel !"  cried  Mr.  Damon.  "I 
think  you  are  entitled  to  a  rest,  Tom." 

"That's  what  I  say/'  agreed  Ned. 

Til  take  care  ob  him — I'll  take  care  ob  Massa 
Tom,"  put  in  Eradicate,  as  he  cast  a  quick  look 
at  Koku.  "Giants  am  all  right  fo'  cannon  wuk, 
but  when  it  comes  t'  comforts  Massa  Tom  gwine 
t'  'pend  on  ole  'Radicate;  ain't  yo'  all,  Massa 
Tom?" 

"I  guess  so,  Rad!"  exclaimed  the  young 
inventor,  with  a  laugh.  "Is  dinner  ready?" 

"It  suah  am,  Massa  Tom,  an'  I  'specially  made 
some  ob  dat  fricasseed  chicken  yo'  all  does  admire 
so  much.  Plenty  of  it,  too,  Massa  Tom." 

"That's  good,  Rad,"  put  in  Ned.  "For  we'll 
all  be  hungry  after  that  trip  to  the  island.  That 
sure  was  a  great  shot  Tom — thirty-three  miles !" 

"Yes,  it  went  farther  than  I  thought  it  would," 
replied  Tom.  And  now,  as  they  are  taking  a 
closing  meal  at  Panama,  ready  to  return  to  the 
United  States,  we  will  take  leave  of  Tom  Swift 
and  his  friends. 

THE  END 


Would  you  like  to  know  what 
became  of  the  good  friends  you 
have  made  in  this  book? 
Would  you  like  to  read  other 
stories  continuing  their  adventures 
and  experiences,  or  other  books 
quite  as  entertaining  by  the  same 
author? 

On  the  reverse  side  of  the  wrap- 
per which  comes  with  this  book, 
you  will  find  a  wonderful  list  of 
stories  which  you  can  buy  at  the 
same  store  where  you  got  this  book. 

Don't  throw  away  the  Wrapper 

Use  it  as  a  handy  catalog  of  the  books 
you  want  some  day  to  have.  But  in 
case  you  do  mislay  it,  write  to  the 
Publishers  for  a  complete  catalog. 


THE    TOM    SWIFT    SERIES 

By  VICTOR  APPLETON 

Uniform   Style    of   Binding.      Individual    Colored   Wrapper*. 
Every  Volume   Complete  in   Itself. 

Every  boy  possesses  some  form  of  inventive  genius. 
Tom  Swift  is  a  bright,  ingenious  boy  and  his  inventions 
and  adventures  make  the  most  interesting  kind  of  reading. 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  MOTOR  CYCLE 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  MOTOR  BOAT 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIRSHIP 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  SUBMARINE  BOAT 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  WIRELESS  MESSAGE 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  ELECTRIC  RUNABOUT 
TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  DIAMOND  MAKERS 
TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  CAVES  OF  ICE 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  SKY  RACER 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  ELECTRIC  RIFLE 
TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  CITY  OF  GOLD 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIR  GLIDER 
TOM  SWIFT  IN  CAPTIVITY 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  WIZARD  CAMERA 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GREAT  SEARCHLIGHT 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  PHOTO  TELEPHONE 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AERIAL  WARSHIP 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  BIG  TUNNEL 
TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  LAND  OF  WONDERS 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  WAR  TANK 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIR  SCOUT 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  UNDERSEA  SEARCH 
TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  ELECTRIC  LOCOMOTIVE 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  FLYING  BOAT 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GREAT  OIL  GUSHER 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  CHEST  OF  SECRETS 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIRLINE  EXPRESS 
TOM  SWIFT  CIRCLING  THE  GLOBE 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  TALKING  PICTURES 
TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  HOUSE  ON  WHEELS 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,        PUBLISHERS,        NEW  YORK 


WESTERN  STORIES  FOR  BOYS 

By  JAMES  CODY  FERRIS 

Individual  Colored  Wrappers  and  Illustrations  by 
WALTER  S.  ROGERS 

Each  Volume    Complete  in  Itself. 

Thrilling  tales  of  the  great  west,  told  primarily  for 
boys  but  which  will  be  read  by  all  who  love  mystery, 
rapid  action,  and  adventures  in  the  great  open 
spaces. 

The  Manley  Boys,  Roy  and  Teddy,  are  the  sons 
of  an  old  ranchman,  the  owner  of  many  thousands 
of  heads  of  cattle.  The  lads  know  how  to  ride,  how 
to  shoot,  and  how  to  take  care  of  themselves  under 
any  and  all  circumstances. 

The  cowboys  of  the  X  Bar  X  Ranch  are  real  cow- 
boys, on  the  job  when  required  but  full  of  fun  and 
daring — a  bunch  any  reader  will  be  delighted  to 
know. 

THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  ON  THE  RANCH 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  IN  THUNDER  CANYON 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  ON  WHIRLPOOL  RIVER 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  ON  BIG  BISON  TRAIL 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  AT  THE  ROUND-UP 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  AT  NUGGET  CAMP 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  AT  RUSTLER'S  GAP 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,  Publishers,  NEW  YORK 


THE 
TED  SCOTT  FLYING  STORIES 

By  FRANKLIN  W.  DIXON 

Individual  Colored  Wrappers  and  Text  Illustrations  by 

WALTER  S.  ROGERS 
Every  Volume  Complete  in  Itself. 

VJO  subject  has  so  thoroughly  caught  the  imag- 
^  ination  of  young  America  as  aviation.  This 
series  has  been  inspired  by  recent  daring  feats  of 
the  air,  and  is  dedicated  to  Lindbergh,  Byrd,  Cham* 
berlain  and  other  heroes  of  the  skies. 

OVER  THE  OCEAN  TO  PARIS;  OR,  TED 
SCOTT'S  DARING  LONG-DISTANCE 
FLIGHT 

RESCUED   IN  THE   CLOUDS;   OR,  TED 

SCOTT,  HERO  OF  THE  AIR 
OVER  THE  ROCKIES  WITH  THE  AIR  MAIL; 

OR,  TED  SCOTT  LOST  IN  THE  WILDER- 

NESS 
FIRST  STOP  HONOLULU;  OR,  TED  SCOTT 

OVER  THE  PACIFIC 
THE  SEARCH  FOR  THE  LOST  FLYERS;  OR, 

TED  SCOTT  OVER  THE  WEST  INDIES 
SOUTH  OF  THE  RIO  GRANDE;  OR,  TED 

SCOTT  ON  A  SECRET  MISSION 

ACROSS  THE  PACIFIC;  OR,  TED  SCOTT'S 
HOP  TO  AUSTRALIA 

THE  LONE  EAGLE  OF  THE  BORDER; 
OR,  TED  SCOTT  AND  THE  DIAMOND 
SMUGGLERS 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,  Publishers.  NEW  YORK 


University  of  California 

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405  Hilgard  Avenue.  Lot  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  thi*  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


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